LONDON (AP) — Tyson Fury’s world heavyweight title defense against Dillian Whyte will take place on April 23, the WBC champion said Tuesday while announcing a social-media blackout until after the all-British fight.
Details of the fight haven’t been announced by either boxer’s promoter.
However, Fury took to Twitter to reveal the date of the bout, hours after saying Whyte had signed a contract.
Accompanying the announcement by Fury was a video in which he said he was “out of bounds until May."
“Gonna go into training camp to give Dillian Whyte all the respect in the world that he needs," Fury said. “I’ll never underestimate anybody in my life, and I’ll give this man all the respect he deserves."
The fight is set to be held in Britain.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 knockouts) hasn’t fought since his dramatic 11th-round knockout of Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in October, which completed their entertaining trilogy.
After months of drawn-out negotiations, Frank Warren, Fury’s U.K. promoter, won a purse bid for the bout at just over $41 million. That’s the richest purse bid in boxing history.
Whyte is the mandatory challenger for Fury’s belt and is getting his first world title shot.
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