UNBEATEN heavyweight Hughie Fury will not fight Dillian Whyte for the British title, despite the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) ordering the contest.
Whyte boxed for the title against Anthony Joshua last December but was knocked out in seven rounds, and since then Joshua has vacated the title and won the world IBF strap.
Fury, cousin of division leader Tyson Fury, recently beat Fred Kassi on a technical decision to earn himself a decent ranking with the WBO, and his trainer and father, Peter Fury, took to Twitter to announce he would not face Whyte.
“Dillian Whyte can go for British titles,” he said.
“Hughie Fury will step aside. Good luck champ. My reasons are clear to those who count. Sorry if I don’t go into details with our reasons.
“British title [is a] top belt to have. Let’s not forget, though – Hughie ranked 14th [in the world] and about to be ranked much higher with WBO. We’re happy as we are!”
Whyte has been sidelined since his loss to Joshua with a shoulder injury, but will return on the undercard of Anthony’s title defence against Dominic Breazeale on June 25.
At this stage the frontrunner to face him for the title looks like Dave Allen, who has been ordered to box in an eliminator against Sam Sexton. The other eliminator was set to be between Gary Cornish and Ian Lewison, with the winners of each then fighting in a final eliminator.
Allen would likely take the Whyte fight straight away if offered to him, while Dillian asked David Price and Dereck Chisora on social media if they were interested.
Price is set to make his return on May 29 at Goodison Park, and Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn wants the Liverpudlian ‘in a title fight’ on the Joshua undercard, though his trainer, Dave Coldwell, said it’s unlikely to be against Whyte.
Chisora just dropped a lopsided decision to Kubrat Pulev in Germany for the European bauble, but an interesting clash with Whyte could tempt him.
