'Nobody wanted to fight Whyte' - but Fury 'ready to rock ’n’ roll' against the 'Body Snatcher' at Wembley

By Sports Desk April 17, 2022

Tyson Fury paid tribute to "fantastic opponent" Dillian Whyte ahead of the pair's record-breaking Wembley Stadium bout next weekend.

The undefeated WBC champion faces his British rival and mandatory challenger at the national stadium on April 23, in what he says will be the final fight of his 31–0–1 career.

Despite having previously compared their bout as "a Ferrari racing a Vauxhall Corsa" in March, Fury was complimentary of Whyte's prowess and 28–2 record ahead of their match.

"Whyte is a fantastic opponent," he told a pre-fight news conference. "He is the guy who has been mandatory for however long, the guy everyone has been avoiding.

"Nobody wanted to fight Dillian Whyte for whatever reason. He’s a vicious puncher, great puncher to the body, very compact, solid.

"He has a fantastic record of only two losses. The fight sold out in just a few hours, so it's a fight people are excited about, and I can't wait to put on a great show."

With 94,000 tickets reportedly sold for the sell-out event, Fury and Whyte's clash is set take the record for the most-attended boxing bout on British soil in history.

Indeed, it will come close to the all-time stadium record too, likely falling only short of Adele's 2017 concert residency, and Fury is happy to mix music metaphors into his showmanship.

"I am ready to rock ’n’ roll, man," he added. "It will be a performance for the ages — 94,000 people, the biggest sporting crowd they have ever had at Wembley.

"It's going to be an absolutely fantastic event, and I'm very much looking forward to it and to putting on a great show."

 

Related items

  • Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno

    Jamaica’s former WBA featherweight world champion Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters, now campaigning at lightweight, continued his comeback with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Joseph Adorno in the ProBox main event at the Whitesands Events Center in Plant City, Florida, on Wednesday.

    The 38-year-old Walters, who returned from a six-and-a-half-year layoff last year, outworked his opponent for the most parts, as Adorno was also deducted a point for a punch after the bell in round nine.

    Walters’ recent squash matches with hapless Colombian journeymen, one of whom was over 45, might have suggested that this was more of a cash-out than a genuine attempt at a comeback. However, the Panama-based boxer proved that was very much not the case and that he clearly still had plenty in the tank.

    He steadily took apart the 24-year-old Adorno with crisp jabs over the course of 10 rounds.

    At the end, Walters won by scores of 95-94, 97-92, 98-91, as he claimed the WBA Continental Americas lightweight title and improved his ring record to 29 wins, 22 of which are by knockouts. He also has one loss and one draw.

    Adorno’s record has now slipped to 18 wins (15 kos) against four losses and two draws.

    Walters created history by becoming the first Jamaican to win a world boxing title at home, defeating Daulis Prescott via a 7th round TKO victory at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston for the WBA World Featherweight title.

  • Jude Bellingham denies Belgium at the death as England secure draw at Wembley Jude Bellingham denies Belgium at the death as England secure draw at Wembley

    Jude Bellingham struck at the death to salvage England a deserved draw against Belgium on a night of impressive auditions in the final match before Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 selection.

    Three days on from the late loss to Brazil, the absentee-hit Euro 2020 runners-up faced another high-level test as the side third in FIFA’s world rankings hosted the team in fourth.

    England were heading for another Wembley defeat after Youri Tielemans punished first-half errors either side of Ivan Toney’s penalty, only for Bellingham to secure a 2-2 draw in stoppage time.

    Toney did well on his first start, as did fellow full debutants Ezri Konsa and, in particular, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo in the final friendly before Southgate names an expanded Euros squad on May 21.

  • Gareth Southgate pleased despite England’s defeat to Brazil Gareth Southgate pleased despite England’s defeat to Brazil

    Gareth Southgate was pleased by England’s display in the defeat to Brazil and praised his trio of debutants as he experimented ahead of Euro 2024.

    Saturday’s Wembley clash between these injury-hit sides ended in the hosts’ first defeat since their World Cup quarter-final exit to France 15 months ago.

    England had hoped to start the international year with a bang but stumbled as teenage star Endrick came off the bench to secure Brazil a late 1-0 win.

    The 17-year-old became the youngest man to score a senior international goal at Wembley, where Southgate was largely happy despite his side’s 10-match unbeaten run coming to an end.

    “I was pleased,” the England manager said. “Clearly don’t like losing football matches, but I thought there were lots of very good individual performances from players who’ve hardly played for England.

    “I thought our more regular players were very good.

    “You know, with 15 minutes to go we’re thinking ‘we’ve managed to see a lot of new players, we’ve had more than our share of the game, we’ve had as many attempts on goal as they have’.

    “The difference in the end was one moment, really, and that is the ruthlessness of football at this level.”

    Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon made a promising first start and Ezri Konsa came on in the 20th minute following an injury to stand-in skipper Kyle Walker.

    The Aston Villa defender filled in at right-back and Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 18, came off the bench 15 minutes from time.

    “I thought Anthony was very good,” the England boss said. “Both sides of his game looked very accomplished.

    “Ezri, to come in at the moment he did and to deal with a player of that quality (Vinicius Jr), I thought he was also excellent, showed real composure and he should be really happy with his debut. We were really pleased with him.

    “Kobbie was a chance to dip his toes. We needed to refresh some of the team because we’ve got to manage their minutes a little bit, so that’s a strange situation when it’s a game of that size but that’s where we are.

    “To get Kobbie on the pitch was a brilliant moment for him and his family. You saw a couple of turns and a couple of really composed moments that is a bit of an indication of what he might become.”

    Southgate was waiting to find out the severity of the issue that forced Walker off in the first half, saying the right-back was unsure “whether it’s just tightness”.

    But the England boss suspects “it’s a little bit more than that”, meaning he would miss Tuesday’s friendly against Belgium.

    Southgate expects to have Cole Palmer and Jordan Henderson available for that game but confirmed captain Harry Kane will not feature due to an ankle injury.

    “Yeah, he’ll go back,” he said. “He won’t he won’t be fit for Tuesday.

    “(Henderson and Palmer) trained today so they’ve come through that OK.

    “They should join the group that will train tomorrow and we’ll go from there with that.”

    With Kane out and Ollie Watkins having the chance to lead the line against Brazil, the Belgium friendly surely provides a chance to start Ivan Toney.

    The one-cap striker was an unused substitute on a rare night when England failed to find the net.

    “We are playing a top team so chances are going to be limited,” Southgate said.

    “Perhaps we had the chances from set-plays to capitalise on one of them that often makes the difference in those tight games.

    “But I was really pleased with the players that went in. We need to find out about them, we need to know where we might head if we didn’t have Harry for a big match.

    “I thought Ollie did a good job, didn’t get that clear chance on goal that you might want as a forward but a lot of his work was very, very good.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.