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Dillian Whyte questions ‘joker’ Tyson Fury’s heavyweight credentials

British heavyweight Dillian Whyte (Getty Images)
British heavyweight Dillian Whyte (Getty Images)

Dillian Whyte has questioned the credentials of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, comparing the ‘Gypsy King’s record against top-level opponents to his own.

Whyte avenged a knockout defeat by Alexander Povetkin last month, stopping the Russian in the fourth round to regain the WBC interim heavyweight title.

The Brixton boxer has long eyed a bout with fellow Briton Fury, who is set to face WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua in a unification contest this year.

Whyte, who was knocked out by Joshua in 2015, believes he has a better record against elite heavyweights than either of his compatriots, however, while the ‘Body Snatcher’ levelled the same criticism at American former WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder.

“Everyone lets [Fury] get away with talking s***, it’s frustrating,” Whyte told Sky Sports.

“[Wladimir] Klitschko was a great fighter, a great champion, but when he fought Klitschko, I don’t know what happened to Klitschko that day. Wladimir, sometimes he’s good and other times... it didn’t seem like he was there to fight. With Wladimir, it’s like some fights he’s good, then other fights it’s like he’s just psychologically not there. He wasn’t there that night for sure and we never got to see the rematch.

“Fury and Wilder get too much credit for their padded, cherry-picked records and have only beaten one current Ring Magazine top 10 fighter each.

“I’ve beaten three. Fury calls himself the greatest of all time, yet has turned down fights against me, even when ordered by the WBC. The guy’s a joker. He [Fury] fought Wilder and beat Wilder, but I’ve been trying to fight Wilder for a long time.

“If I had fought Wilder, I’d have beaten Wilder before Fury. If I’d have beaten Wilder, I’d be undisputed WBC champion by now. As things stand there are two WBC world heavyweight champions. We have exactly the same belt. How can Fury fight to be undisputed when he is not even the undisputed WBC champion?”

Wilder had granted Fury a voluntary defence in 2018 instead of facing then-No 1 contender Whyte.

“Because he’s a coward,” Whyte said. “He was thinking: ‘Fury has been off for three years, if I catch him now...’ That was his best chance of beating him and it backfired, because he’s a coward.”

Whyte also accused Fury of avoiding him, saying: “He’s avoided me two times before, so let’s see [what happens], but who knows.”

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