Eddie Hearn: No reason for Dillian Whyte’s WBC mandatory to be further delayed

Boxing is obviously in a state of some chaos at this point, but it’s really even worse the further you dig into things.

For instance, anything to do with mandatory challengers, purse bids, etc. is being pushed way back at this point. We know we’re pretty much shut down through May, and with the postponement of Joshua-Pulev originally set for June 20, it’s looking more and more like July (maybe very late June) is the first hope we have of seeing action.

But then there’s the case of Dillian Whyte, who has been promised a WBC heavyweight title shot by Feb. 2021. That’s still a long ways off, but you do have to wonder if the overall delays in boxing will delay that even further. Whyte (27-1, 18 KO) has been waiting a long time and paying sanctioning fees for “interim” titles and “silver” titles, and he won’t be looking to wait longer.

And while promoter Eddie Hearn is keen on any way he can get WBC titleholder Tyson Fury into the ring with WBA/IBF/WBO titleholder Anthony Joshua as soon as possible, he’s also going to bat for Whyte:

“Dillian Whyte’s mandatory is February 2021. I see no reason why that should be delayed, to be honest with you, because Fury is still likely to fight this year. I don’t see an issue with things like that. Certainly, there will be disruption across the board.”

Whyte isn’t likely to see that promise postponed in the coming days or weeks, and he is tentatively set to face Alexander Povetkin on July 4, which is not a fight he can look past at all. Originally slated for May 2, that’s a WBC interim title fight, and Povetkin is a real contender and serious threat. If Whyte loses that, he’s not getting any mandatory WBC title shot in the first place.

But it is quite possible, depending on how long everyone is sidelined, that Whyte’s promised shot could be pushed back further into 2021. If Fury returns as hoped on October 3 for a third fight with Deontay Wilder, then yeah, there’s time to make the Whyte fight happen in February, assuming Whyte beats Povetkin. If Fury-Wilder 3 gets pushed into November or December or early 2021, Whyte’s not going to get the shot as currently mapped out.