Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte do battle at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night for the WBC and lineal heavyweight titles. Who will triumph? Boxing Social’s team of writers have their say…
Dillian Whyte has long been pursuing a shot at the heavyweight crown – the WBC belt in particular – and on Saturday night the ‘Body Snatcher’ finally gets his chance against the undefeated and consensus number one in the division Tyson Fury.
So who will prevail? Boxing Social’s intrepid band of writers and fortune tellers attempt to predict the outcome.
Fury TKO 10. The only way I can see Whyte winning is after throwing a left hook from the gods or if Fury performs at 50 per cent. We know Fury can do it all and I think he might frustrate Whyte early before stepping up the aggression from the fifth onwards. Whyte is as tough as old boots but lacks the variety and size to trouble Fury. I can see him getting reckless and getting caught more and more as the fight wears on. Eventually it’ll be size, strength and power that wears down a gallant challenge forcing the referee to wave it off in the tenth. – Shaun Brown
The closer we get to fight night the more intrigued I’ve become by this one. The outcome, I feel, will be decided almost entirely by which Fury turns up. I can see Whyte having real success against the more aggressive ‘Kronk-style’ Tyson but labouring to land much of any note against the elusive and economical version that we saw topple Klitschko. If he’s caught between styles, tempted into a war by the more industrious brawler, Whyte could very well shock the world. Ultimately, however, I think Fury has enough experience and ring intelligence to eke out an uninspiring but convincing points win. – Phil Rogers
Fury seems the clear winner to me. Whyte is tough and can punch but Fury is bigger and quite simply better. I think the referee will intervene around round nine or ten. – James Oddy
Common sense dictates that Fury has his way with Whyte (southpaw, orthodox, front-foot, back-foot), and that’s probably the case. But are we really, really confident in his ability to avoid Whyte’s messy, marauding hooks? Wilder put Fury down multiple times across their three bouts, clipping him clean and leaving him slumped on the canvas. Could Whyte do the same? With slightly more educated pressure, and a will to keep pressing until the bitter end? With fighters as good and as confident as Fury, undefeated, swaggering around the ring oozing invincibility, it only takes one bad night. Whyte hasn’t given us much in the build-up, but we know what he’s all about. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fury touch the canvas, but escape with a controversially wide points win on the night. – Craig Scott
The heavyweight division has produced some of the most dramatic upsets in the sport. 45-year-old George Foreman was a 3/1 underdog when he shocked the undefeated Michael Moorer. Buster Douglas was famously priced at 42/1 (sort of) to beat Mike Tyson. The challenger made a mockery of those odds. Cassius Clay “shook up the world” when dethroning Sonny Liston. Late-replacement, Andy Ruiz was given little hope against Anthony Joshua, but he gave AJ his first defeat. Anything can happen in the land of giants, but usually, the result is the expected one. This one will be business as usual: Tyson Fury by late stoppage. – John A. MacDonald