"They want 10 million dollars" - Bob Arum on the demands made by Dillian Whyte for the Tyson Fury fight
Bob Arum has revealed the demands Dillian Whyte has made for him to square off against Tyson Fury in 2022.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered Fury to take on mandatory challenger Whyte next earlier this month. Arum has been carrying out negotiations for 'The Gypsy King' and there seems to be a deadlock right now.
During a recent conversation with iFL TV, the 90-year-old lawyer slammed 'The Villian' and his management for being greedy. He added that Tyson Fury is ready to move on to another opponent, which will result in a huge loss for Whyte.
"They want 10 million dollars. We want you know to guarantee him five million or five-and-a-half million dollars against the percentage. And they said you got to start at eight numbers. That probably is not enough for them. So they are just being greedy and I mean, that is one thing that's really bad in boxing. Look at your purses that you have made throughout your career. This would be by far his biggest purse. We are prepared to pay it and yet they're just grinding it out. So Tyson will just have to fight for The Ring magazine title. He'll save the sanction fee money."
Watch Bob Arum in conversation with iFL TV below:
In the same interview, Arum claimed that Fury is likely to face either Andy Ruiz Jr. or Robert Helenius in a non-title fight in March. Following that, he could possibly challenge the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2.
Tyson Fury initially wanted to fight Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed heavyweight championship showdown
Ever since he defeated Deontay Wilder in their October 2021 trilogy clash, Tyson Fury has openly stated that he wants to fight WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Usyk in an undisputed title fight.
However, the biggest stumbling block in making that happen was Anthony Joshua's rematch clause. That came into effect following the Englishman's defeat to 'The Cat' in September.
Fighting talk from Usyk 😤
“I will beat him (Tyson Fury), nicely.”
- Usyk
🎥 @fighthype
📎 youtu.be/qrTM_s-p9u4 https://t.co/hycBhbIHCQ
'AJ' could have easily made way for Fury vs. Usyk to happen first and challenge the winner of that encounter later in 2022. However, he seemingly demanded too hefty a sum to take a back seat.