Tyson Fury’s world title defence against Dillian Whyte has been made official.
The WBC heavyweight champion will be aiming to maintain his unbeaten record against his mandatory challenger on April 23 at Wembley Stadium.
Confirmation of the news brings to an end a drama which began at the purse bids meeting last month. Queensberry, who co-promote Fury along with Top Rank, and Matchroom who promote Whyte both placed huge multi-million-dollar bids but the winning offer of just over $41 million ensured that Frank Warren and Queensberry would stage the fight.
The next phase was the contract signings. Fury put pen to paper quickly, but Whyte waited until the remaining hours of his February 21 deadline to sign on the dotted line.
In the midst of it all we have seen Fury attack Whyte on social media while the challenger has played the silent game much to Eddie Hearn’s enjoyment.
But today fight fans got the news they wanted which sees one of the biggest boxing events of the year go ahead at Wembley and live on ESPN and BT Sport Box Office.
The fight will represent Whyte’s first world title opportunity. The 34-year-old does hold the Interim belt which he lost to Alexander Povetkin but then regained it. But a genuine championship shot has been a long time coming for ‘The Body Snatcher’.
For 33-year-old Fury this will be the second defence of the belt which he won having overcome rival Deontay Wilder in spectacular fashion two years ago. Their rematch from the first fight which ended in a draw shaped a rivalry that was brought to a conclusion last October when the pair fought out an all-time heavyweight classic which Fury emerged victorious from in the 11th round.