Tyson Fury’s expected fight against Dillian Whyte has not been confirmed in a surprise twist, opening the possibility of the WBC champion making a voluntary defence next year.
The WBC had been expected to confirm Londoner Whyte as the mandatory challenger at their annual convention in Mexico on Tuesday.
However, the WBC announced thy could not order a Fury-Whyte clash until a lawsuit from Whyte is resolved, which is thought could take months.
Talks had already got under way for the all-British fight with Fury, who retained his title by knocking out Deontay Wilder last month, favouring a contest in his home city of Manchester, having not fought in the UK since 2018.
But, given the WBC’s decision, those plans look to be on hold with Fury now set to look for a new opponent.
His promoter Frank Warren said: “We want to get Tyson out early in the new year. That might be against Whyte but having only boxed once in 18 months Tyson will want to be active.”
Whyte is yet to fight for a world title belt despite years of contention. A potential bout with former champion Deontay Wilder never came to be, angering his camp, after he began his push to become mandatory challenger in 2017.
