In this week’s Fight Talk, we react to the announcement that Tyson Fury will defend his WBC crown against fellow British heavyweight rival Dillian Whyte.
Frank Warren was successful in his purse bid to secure the lucrative bout and Fury is set to return to the United Kingdom, whereas Whyte will finally get his heavyweight title shot. As expected, social media went a little wild over the announcement which even saw The Rock get involved.
Plus, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will make history by headlining Madison Square Garden at the end of April and Olympic gold medallist Galal Yafai will make his professional debut this month.
It’s Fight Talk – your weekly fix of boxing news
Fury to defend WBC title against Dillian Whyte
Tyson Fury’s WBC heavyweight title fight with Dillian Whyte has been confirmed.
Fury’s boxing promoter Frank Warren announced on Friday he will be staging the heavyweight clash after successfully winning the purse with an offer of £31m.
A date and venue have yet to be confirmed but Cardiff’s Principality Stadium has been touted as a possible destination on 23 April.
Whyte is the WBC’s number one and mandatory contender after avenging a loss to Alexander Povetkin 11 months ago. The 33-year-old has not fought since then and will fight for a heavyweight title for the first time in his career.
Fury hasn’t boxed in the UK since beating Francesco Pianeta in Belfast in August 2018. The WBC heavyweight champion’s last five fights have been held in United States, including the famous trilogy against Deontay Wilder.
How did social media react?
‘The Gypsy King’ took to social media to address the purse bid announcement and had a message for Dillian Whyte.
“I’m very happy, guys. Big GK (Gypsy King) is coming home,” he said. “Coming home, I’m coming home. I cannot wait. Me and Dillian are going to put it on the line.”
Fury added: “Get ready for the biggest British dust-up since Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno. History in the making.”
Fury and Whyte are no strangers to each other.
The pair have sparred in the past and Whyte has called out Fury on several occasions, including via this pinned tweet on Twitter.
Boxing fans have now begun their predictions ahead of the all-British heavyweight showdown between Fury and Whyte.
Boxing coach Dave Caldwell believes the build-up to the fight will be “absolute madness.”
Days before the purse bid announcements, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson posted a video to his 290 million Instagram followers praising Fury.
“A good buddy of mine, who many of you know, if not all of you, Tyson Fury, the heavyweight champion of the world, he will go down as one of the greatest of all time, possibly the greatest of all time. He’s in that conversation,” The Rock said.
Fury v White will certainly capture the imagination of sports fans. The bookmakers have made Fury a strong favourite to win but Dillian Whyte will relish the underdog status.
How do you see this fight going? Get involved on Twitter using #bbcboxing.
Taylor and Serrano set to make history at MSG
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will go head-to-head in a mega-fight on 30 April.
This will be a groundbreaking event for women’s boxing as the pair will headline Madison Square Garden, becoming the first women to do so.
The iconic venue has staged countless high-profile contests over the past 140 years.
Taylor, the current undisputed lightweight champion versus Serrano, a former world champion in seven weight divisions, has been mooted for several years.
Promoting the fight will be Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who has worked with Taylor for a number of years, and Youtuber-turned boxer Jake Paul, who signed Serrano last year to his Most Valuable Promotion banner.
Claressa Shields believes Taylor v Serrano is the biggest fight in women’s boxing history, while taking a swipe at rival Savannah Marshall.
Hearn, says the world will stop when the two face off in New York.
How excited are you for Taylor v Serrano? Get involved using #bbcboxing on Twitter.
Olympic gold medallist set for professional bow
Galal Yafai will make his professional boxing debut after signing a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
The Team GB boxer won the Olympic gold medal in the flyweight division at Tokyo 2020.
Yafai will make his debut on 27 February at the O2 Arena on the undercard of Lawrence Okolie’s WBO cruiserweight title defence against Michael Cieslak.
The 29-year-old’s pending professional debut has people excited.
Team GB Boxing also wished Yafai the best as he embarks on the professional scene.