Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte
It may not be the British heavyweight encounter that the boxing community oh-so craved, with one too many spanners being thrown in the works for a blockbuster bout with Anthony Joshua. But Tyson Fury’s upcoming fight with Londoner Dillian Whyte still promises to be one of the biggest battles in UK boxing history.
Almost 100,000 fight fans are set to flock to Wembley Stadium for the April 23rd showdown, which Fury’s promoter Frank Warren paid a record £30.6 million to stage — dwarfing Eddie Hearn’s bid to promote the fight, which still stood at a mammoth £23.9m.
It’ll come as no surprise that Fury, the WBC and Ring Magazine champion, is the huge odds-on favourite here: https://www.betdaq.com. But Whyte, who didn’t turn up to the first of the fight’s promotional press conferences, will not go down without putting up a fight. So, as anticipation begins to build, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape:
Age
Neither of the two fighters are exactly in the peak of their powers at this stage of their respective career, with Fury consistently claiming this will be his final bout before hanging up the gloves — take that with a pinch of salt though. There is very little to separate the pair in terms of age, with Whyte turning 34 around two weeks before the fight, while The Gypsy King will celebrate his 34th birthday in August.
Record
There’s absolutely no question that undefeated Fury boasts the better record going into this fight. The Mancunian is unbeaten in his 32 professional bouts, with a controversial draw against American Deontay Wilder in the first of their immense trilogy the only blemish on his record. With 22 wins by knockout, Fury unified the heavyweight division when he beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and he has built his way back to the top.
That is not to take anything away from Whyte’s record though. 28 wins, 19 by KO, from 30 professional bouts is certainly not to be sniffed at — especially when you consider that one of those defeats came to Anthony Joshua back in 2015. And he respectably avenged his recent loss to Alexander Povetkin, stopping the Russian in the fourth round of their rematch in Gibraltar last time out. The Body Snatcher won the WBC interim belt in that victory and reclaimed his No.1 mandatory position with the WBC, which he held for 1,000 days before his brief blip.
Physicality
At 6ft4in tall, Whyte is by no means small in physique. However, when he gets into the ring with Fury at Wembley Stadium, it is going to look like a case of David vs Goliath to the 96,000 in attendance — The Gypsy King stands at huge 6ft9in, meaning he’s going to tower above Whyte.
With that additional, five inches in height comes a substantial reach advantage as well. In fact, Fury (85in) boasts a massive seven inches more in arm length than his British counterpart (78in). With such a big difference, Whyte could look to fight up close to Fury. Otherwise, he’ll be in for a long night with the defending champion able to pick away at him and keep a comfortable distance.
Full tale of the tape:
Fury vs Whyte
Age: 33 vs 33
Fights: 32 vs 30
Losses: 0 vs 2
Draws: 1 vs 0
KOs: 22 vs 19
Height: 6’9” vs 6’4”
Reach: 85” vs 78”
Belts: WBC heavyweight vs WBC interim
Stance: Orthodox vs Orthodox
Nicknames: The Gypsy King vs The Body Snatcher