Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte given extra week to solve pay split dispute

Fury and Whyte had originally been set a deadline for tomorrow (January 11)

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte have been told by the WBC that they have been given an extra week to solve their dispute over the purse split ahead of their world title fight this year. The WBC had initially set a deadline for Tuesday January 11, but the two camps have yet agree terms as Whyte is unhappy that his opponent is set to receive 80 per cent of the total pay for the bout. They confirmed in a statement: "The WBC has extended the free negotiations period for the WBC mandatory heavyweight title fight between champion Tyson Fury and interim champion Dillian Whyte. "If there is no agreement between the parties a purse bid will be held on Tuesday January 18 at noon in Mexico City WBC headquarters." https://twitter.com/WBCBoxing/status/1480286626333040644 Should a purse bid be held, it would allow any promoter to open negotiations to hold the fight, reports the Daily Mail. Whyte was ordered to fight the 'Gypsy King' as a mandatory challenger despite Fury's hopes he would be able to secure a unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk, who instead, is gearing up for a rematch with Anthony Joshua this year after Joshua activated a rematch clause. Despite the talks, Fury's UK promoter Frank Warren said last month that his prized asset was in dialogue with four other potential opponents, but refused to name any of those he had spoken to. He said: "I’m pretty confident one of those shows [in March] will feature him. "He won’t be defending his WBC title, there is a problem there, not of his making or our making. "The WBC and Dillian Whyte are in arbitration and that hearing is not set to be heard until March. We can’t negotiate. "It’s all very well Eddie Hearn saying this nonsense about negotiating, how can you negotiate when the WBC haven’t said what the splits are? "We have got to sort out an opponent first before we can move further forward.

"I‘m not going to go into that because we have got to get things done first. But we are working quite hard on it and there are about four in the frame and we will make a decision on that, subject to their availability too."

Related links:

• Frank Warren reveals Tyson Fury is in talks with four opponents after Whyte deal stalls
• Tyson Fury promises ‘swift knockout’ in Dillian Whyte fight