The bad blood continues to boil between heavyweight rivals Dillian Whyte and Tyson Fury, with the two engaged in a social media spat following Fury’s win over Francesco Pianeta in Belfast this weekend.
Fury, who announced after the fight that he will tackle long-time Whyte target Deontay Wilder for the American’s WBC World heavyweight title, responded angrily to a post from Whyte, in which the Brixton man labelled both Fury and Wilder as “cowards”.
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“Cowards??? It could have been you [facing Wilder].” said Fury on his official Instagram page.
“But someone didn’t want to fight the final eliminator vs [Luis] Ortiz, did you coward? So that’s why you’re not fighting Wilder.”
The comments were aimed at Whyte after his failure to secure a showdown with Wilder, despite being number one contender for the WBC strap. However, a failure to secure a final eliminator against former-Wilder victim Ortiz seemingly left the door ajar for lineal champion Fury – with a date and venue all that remains for his blockbuster bout with ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
30-year-old Fury would go on to goad Whyte for his loss to current unified World heavyweight kingpin Anthony Joshua, before labelling him a “dosser” for promoter Eddie Hearn.
“What have you ever achieved? Oh, I remember, you got sparked by Anthony Joshua for the British title.” Fury continued.
“The facts are you’re just a dosser for Eddie Hearn, hoping you might get something from the leftovers of Anthony Joshua’s plate.”
Whyte, however, refused to take Fury’s comments lying down, responding with his own provocative post – even going so far as to claim Fury refused to fight him due to Whyte knocking him down several times in sparring.
The curent WBC Silver and WBO International heavyweight champion concluded by stating he would be ready to step in for the self-styled ‘Gypsy King’ should Fury suffer what Whyte referred to as a “fake injury” in the build-up to their rumoured November 17th showdown in Las Vegas.
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With Whyte expected to announce his return to the ring in the upcoming weeks – and Fury now back in full-flow after a two-and-a-half year hiatus – fans can expect the war of words between the two men to continue.
Though it is believed Whyte will fight again before the end of 2018, he is the heavy favourite to face former opponent and arch rival Anthony Joshua in a rematch of their December 2015 British and Commonwealth title bout next April at Wembley Stadium.
Both men have been vocal in their desire to renew hostilities, following a heated rivalry that stretches back to their infancy in amateur boxing. Their first bout in the paid ranks – in which Whyte suffered his sole career defeat, by seventh round stoppage – was the launching point of Whyte’s career.
However, with eight consecutive victories since the loss to Joshua (including wins over former World champions Lucas Browne and Joseph Parker), Whyte is undoubtedly an improved fighter.
In all likelihood, ‘The Bodysnatcher’ will get his chance at redemption against Joshua long before fans see him lock horns with Fury. However, that small detail is unlikely to prevent them exchanging pleasantries on social media…