The heavyweight division is currently in a state of chaos but, hopefully, it should all become somewhat clearer on Wednesday evening.
In September last year, everything was relatively straightforward: Anthony Joshua had to dispatch of his WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk, while Tyson Fury simply had to beat Deontay Wilder again, having been legally forced into a trilogy bout with his great rival. The undisputed talk could then resume.
As we all know, Fury won, Joshua didn’t. The goal posts shifted, but mostly everyone was on the same page. Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn insisted they would immediately trigger the contractually-agreed rematch clause, while Fury was expected to be ordered to fight Dillian Whyte.
Tyson Fury (left) and Dillian Whyte (right) have until 6pm TODAY to agree to a match-up
In the proceeding months, Joshua did, in fact, trigger his contractually-agreed rematch clause, while Fury has, in fact, been ordered to face WBC mandatory challenger Whyte, who has been patiently waiting for his shot since 2017. But, remarkably, the heavyweight landscape still remains unclear; who each of Fury, Joshua, Usyk and Whyte will next fight is still unknown… for now.
The WBC have set a deadline of 6pm (UK time) on Wednesday for Fury and Whyte to finally negotiate their fight, before purse bids are called and the immediate future of the heavyweight division can be decided. It’s a deadline that has been pushed back three times already, though.
With the all-important deadline approaching, Sportsmail answers some key questions: What exactly is a purse bid? Why are the Fury-Whyte negotiations proving difficult? Could Fury fight Usyk instead? What has each fighter said on the matter? And what is the expected outcome?
What is a purse bid?
Let’s start with the easy part. Boxing has been increasingly difficult to follow as the years have gone by but, luckily, this part has stayed the same.
If a deal between Whyte and Fury…
Source : dailymail
