Tyson Fury has been told his next fight will be against Dillian Whyte, with the World Boxing Council’s president confirming they will order the mandatory challenge.
There has been plenty of discussion over what Fury will do next following his knockout win in the trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder last month.
Hopes of a unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk, or an eagerly-anticipated fight against Anthony Joshua, were dashed when a rematch between the two was triggered following the Ukrainian's win in September.
That left Whyte as Fury’s likely next opponent, with the 33-year-old standing as the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight title.
That bout has been put into doubt though amid suggestions that Fury could retire from the ring, with Ricky Hatton urging his friend to hang up his gloves immediately.
Meanwhile, Whyte had been scheduled to fight Otto Wallin on October 30, only to cancel the bout after sustaining a shoulder injury in training.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed though that the organisation will go through with their order for a fight between the Gypsy King and the Body Snatcher, with Fury having been unable to negotiate a fight with Usyk.
“The WBC order was very clear, that the winner of Fury vs Wilder has one month to try to secure the ultimate unification against Usyk, who defeated Joshua," Sulaiman told talkSPORT.
“If they’re not capable of doing such, then the WBC would go with a mandatory, which is the interim champion.
“We have received from the British Boxing Board of Control the medical certification that Whyte could not fight Wallin because of the injury. So we are going to do what we promised, which is that way we are moving forward.”
