Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte met in the ring for the first time in April 2022, with Fury tasting the spoils of victory. Here's how the fight went down.
Last updated: 11/11/22 at 12:00
The 'Gypsy King' Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight title belt in an all-British heavyweight boxing showdown in April as he took on Dillain Whyte.
Whyte had been waiting since 2017 for his world title shot, and he finally got the chance as Fury's mandatory challenger for the WBC world title.
The fight ended up breaking a number of records, including the highest successful purse bid in boxing history, after Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions won the rights to promote the fight with a winning bid of £31 million.
The fight has now been and gone, and it was a brilliant affair at that. Find out how the fight happened with this Fury vs Whyte recap.
Fury vs Whyte Rivalry
The anticipation for this fight had been building since 2020, when Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte exchanged a few blows on Twitter.
In a response to a remark made by Fury, stating that he would ‘annihilate’ his mandatory challenger, Whyte fired back by branding Fury a ‘Gypsy Coward’.
Gypsy @Tyson_Fury Coward always conning the public you forget I’ve put you down lots before & watched you pathetically sobbing on the canvas you ran away last year when @wbcboxing ordered you to fight me anytime anywhere anyhow #FakeTyson #Coward
— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) June 26, 2020
Whyte then proceeded to administer more damage to his rival, tweeting that he had knocked down Fury multiple times in sparring sessions leaving him “pathetically sobbing on the canvas”.
The ‘Gypsy King’ responded by teasing Whyte: “wait like a good boy & I might think about giving you a pay day, only if you’re nice. Until then keep fighting 40-odd year olds in Eddie’s garden Mr Big Time”.
@DillianWhyte in your dreams bum, listen 👂wait like a good boy & I might think about giving you a pay day only if your nice👍🏻 Until then keep fighting 40 odd year olds in eddies garden mr big time.😂🤣😉
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) June 27, 2020
All this built the tension for the fight, increasing the heat and the stakes as now it wasn't just the belt on the line but both fighters' egos.
Fury v Whyte Fight Date
The official fight date changed a few times. Originally, a fight date in March was the preferred option, however, due to the delayed confirmation of the fight venue it got pushed back to April.
Tyson Fury's promoter Frank Warren - along with US promoter Bob Arum - echoed those thoughts after confirming that a 'provisional date' of Saturday 23rd April 2022 was 'pencilled in'. It was then later confirmed that they fight was to happen on 23rd April.
Fury vs Whyte Tale of the Tape
Fury vs Whyte Fight: How It Happened
The highly-anticipated fight started strong, with Whyte unexpectedly coming out in the first round fighting in the southpaw stance, as opposed to his usual orthodox.
This meant any sort of gameplan Fury would have had for the first round was thrown out the window, as he or his team would not have expected the surprise of Whyte starting on a different fighting stance.
Despite this, Fury was still able to land a number of solid hits on Whyte, and that ultimately would set the tone for the fight.
The 'Gypsy King' gave Whyte a taste of his own medicine in the second round, as he would switch between southpaw and orthodox stances throughout.
"Welcome to big time boxing mush.."@Tyson_Fury and Paris thought they detected nerves from Dillian Whyte from the off 👀
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) May 23, 2022
Watch #NoFilterBoxing one month on from #FuryWhyte on YouTube!
The fight continued at a steady yet contentious pace for the first three rounds. In the fourth round, Whyte received a cut over his right eye after a clash of heads between the two.
Fury stayed smart, keeping his distance and really setting the tone of the fight. He wouldn't focus his shots on any one area, instead mixnig it up with body shots, jabs and check hooks to the head.
He started to raise the pace in the fifth round, holding his ground and staying closer to Whyte to engage with quick and strong punches.
Towards the end of the fifth, Fury caught Whyte with a quick combo to the head that seemingly stunned the challenger. Fury followed up with a flurry of punches, but Whyte fought his way out of the situation to finish the round.
The damage was definitely done, however, and in the sixth round, Whyte knew he'd have to do something otherwise it would be over for him - and soon it would be.
Whyte fought as hard as he could, but with 10 seconds left in the round, Fury caught him with an uppercut that sent the challenger to the floor.
While he was able to get back to his feet, after stumbling into the arms of the referee, the fight was waved off, meaning Fury had won by technical knockout.
At the time of the stoppage, Fury was winning on all three judge's scorecards, with 49-46, 48-47 and 50-45.
Fallout from Fury vs Whyte
In the post-fight interview, Fury thanked all the fans in attendance, as well as the ones at home, his team, his family and everyone who had supported him in his career to that point.
He then reiterated what he had been saying before the fight and what had been speculated by many, that this was to be his final fight and he would be retiring after it (of course, now we know that not to be the case).
Before leaving the ring, the 'Gypsy King' played himself out by singing 'American Pie' to the 94,000 fans in attendance.
Dillian Whyte would not have been one of those singing along, however, and not just because he probably wasn't seeing completely straight.
The day after the fight, Whyte claimed that Fury had essentially cheated to get the knockout, as Fury had pushed him to the ground after the uppercut, and that his head hitting the canvas is what actually stunned him.
Nothing ever came of the claims, thoug. Fury fought back saying his head never even touched the canvas, and that the push was to stop Whyte from falling on him.
What's next for Fury and Whyte?
As mentioned, Fury stated after the fight that he was now retired, and immediately vacated his The Ring title. However, he did not vacate his WBC title, leading many to think he wasn't actually retiring.
That is in fact the case, as he would effectively come out of retirement after the result of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2.
He first started by calling out Usyk, trying to get the Undisputed fight that almost materialised earlier in the year to happen again.
When that fell through, he challenged AJ, who originally accepted. However, that also fell through after Joshua's team did not sign the contract before Fury's deadline.
LET’S HAVE IT THEN DEL BOY!!!! SEE YOU DECEMBER 3RD LONDON! @SpursOfficial @DerekWarChisora pic.twitter.com/3cKofPXNtI
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) October 20, 2022
'The Gypsy King' maintained that he would be fighting again in 2022, however, and it has now been confimed that Tyson Fury's next fight will be against an old foe in Derek Chisora, making it another trilogy bout for Fury.
This fight will be at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 3rd December 2022. Tickets are available to purchase now.
As for Dillian Whyte, he will also be back in action this year. He hasn't fought since the Fury fight, however he will be taking on Jermaine Franklin on 26th November 2022.
What's more, Eddie Hearn - promoter for Anthony Joshua and part-time promoter for Whyte - has floated the idea that if Whyte beats Franklin, he will get a rematch against Anthony Joshua in 2023.
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