WBC No.1 contender Dillian Whyte has taken legal action against the Mexican sanctioning body to push for his long-awaited shot at the organisation’s champion Tyson Fury.
Brixton’s Whyte, who has held that No.1 spot since 2018 and confirmed his mandatory position with a decision over Oscar Rivas in July 2019, has inevitably grown frustrated as boxing politics and potential unification fights have pushed him further down the queue.
With WBC champion Tyson Fury contracted to face former title-holder Deontay Wilder a third time and a two-fight series with WBA Super, WBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua heavily mooted, Whyte has sought a legal recourse.
“There is a procedure with regards to the date of the mandatory in the heavyweight division,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
“Upon direct advice of WBC legal counsel, I am not in position to discuss any further.”
Sulaiman had previously stated that Whyte would receive his WBC title tilt by February 2021, but after the Covid-19 pandemic placed boxing on hold that now looks highly unlikely.
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who also represents Joshua, has previously insisted there is still room for Whyte to face Fury first.
“The point of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and the teams agreeing to the structure of that deal – that first fight can happen at the end of next summer,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“It will be 2021, but there is [still] a big period of time where Dillian Whyte should be getting his shot at the world title and that’s important to us.”
WBC interim champ Whyte is currently waiting for a new date for his postponed clash with Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin. There is, of course, a possibility that the organisation could grant Fury ‘franchise champion’ status and instate Whyte as its WBC title-holder.
The plot seems likely to thicken.