Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight bout against Otto Wallin is set to be called off at late notice after the Briton reportedly suffered a shoulder injury during his training camp.
Whyte, the mandatory challenger to face Tyson Fury next, had been due to face Wallin on 30 October in London and was set to fly to the capital from Portugal this week.
However, a report in The Sun claimed that Whyte has not travelled and is unable to train due to the injury. It remains to be seen whether the fight will be rescheduled or cancelled outright.
As it stands, Whyte, as the WBC’s interim challenger, could be ordered to face Fury in the first half of 2022 and defeat against Wallin, a valid contender in the division, would throw those plans into disarray.
Whyte has already experienced that fate once before when waiting for a world title shot, having been knocked out by Alexander Povetkin in a stunning upset in 2020 before avenging the defeat in March earlier this year.
Wallin faced Fury in 2019 and very nearly inflicted a first defeat on the WBC champion, opening a huge cut above Fury’s eye that almost caused the fight to be stopped.
The Swede’s promoter, Dmitriy Salita, told Sky Sports: “It’s very disappointing. If it is an injury, then he should heal, and they should reschedule this event. That would be the fair thing to do.
“It would not be fair to the sport of boxing for Dillian Whyte to have an injury, whatever it is, and as a result of that, to be able to be mandated to fight Fury.
“Otto is ready to go to the UK today. He had a complete training camp and this fight guarantees a lot of attention and it was truly the right eliminator for the fight with Fury.
“The fight has to be rescheduled for a later date and the winner of that fight should fight Tyson Fury. Anything else would be unfair to the sport of boxing, and unfair to Otto Wallin.
“We’re definitely going to petition the WBC to make a decision. That’s what should be decided – the winner of Whyte-Wallin fights Tyson Fury. The WBC will pass what I feel is an important decision, which should set things right.”
Source: Read Full Article
