Who Will Tyson Fury Fight Next, Dillian Whyte Or Joe Joyce?

Updated: Nov 20, 2021 11:51 am

Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte

Since defeating Deontay Wilder for the second time (42-2-1, 41 KOs), the next opponent for Tyson Fury (31-01, 22 KOs) has yet to be confirmed. Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for the WBC title and has been for some time.

But the Gypsy King and The Body Snatcher still haven’t put pen to paper to set up a massive all-British clash in 2022.

According to a recent interview with Bob Arum, if Dillian Whyte is reasonable with his demands, Fury is happy to fight him, if not, he will fight Joe Joyce.

Therefore, it seems to be the purse split that is stopping this fight from taking place. As a mandatory challenger, Whyte is entitled to 45% of the purse but has been offered 80-20% in favour of Fury.

Unsurprisingly, the man from Brixton is pushing the case for a fairer split and more money. However, is he at risk of pricing himself out of the bout?

Even though Whyte is not considered as one of the top heavyweights in the world by the majority of the boxing public, a fight with Tyson Fury is certainly an exciting proposition. 

There is no love lost between the two British boxers who tend to have the occasional beef on Twitter. Not to mention, the history they have together as sparring partners when Fury was trained by his uncle Peter.

Stylistically, the Gypsy King has many advantages in terms of height, reach, speed, and boxing skill, although Whyte is a tough boxer with one hell of a left hook. If Fury was to fight against Whyte as he did against Wilder would he be at risk of getting dropped?

With Sugar Hill as the coach of Fury, there are no signs the man from Manchester will return to his sleek, boxing style of the past. The legendary trainer said it himself “I train my fighters to knock their opponents out”. 

So if Fury was to come forward and give up his reach advantage this could make it easier for Whyte to hit him cleanly. Rather than having to chase Fury around the ring and get peppered by the jab all night.

Then again the reason many boxing experts believe The Body Snatcher has little to no chance against Fury is that he has recently shown a lack of punch resistance. 

Alexander Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs) knocked Whyte out in their first bout and this could be an indication that all the tough fights he has had in his career are starting to wear him down.

Of course, one punch can change a fight in the heavyweight division and Whyte did dominate both bouts. Still, Povetkin was close to 40 years old and Fury is a much fresher and sharper boxer.

If Whyte has any chance of winning the fight he has to knock Fury out. The Gypsy King has been dropped three times in his last three fights and this shows he is hittable, especially under his new style from Kronk’s gym.

Tyson Fury vs Joe Joyce

A somewhat dark horse in the heavyweight division is Joe Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs). The Juggernaut has an extensive amateur background where he won an Olympic silver medal in 2016, losing out via split decision to Tony Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs).

Then as soon as he became professional he wasted no time in beating legitimate contenders such as Bermane Stiverne (25-5-1, 21 KOs), Bryant Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs), and Daniel Dubois (17-1, 16 KOs).

Joyce is not the most technically-sound boxer but he is very effective. The 36-year-old has a good jab, a granite chin, solid work rate, and knockout power in his punches. You only need to look at his fight against Dubois to see he is not easy to beat.

Dubois hit Joyce with several right hands in their fight but the Juggernaut was able to take his best punches before forcing a stoppage later on in the bout. This showed Joyce’s experience and a phenomenal chin to get the job done.

Fury is undoubtedly seen as levels above Dubois, yet would he have the power to knock Joyce out?

The man from Putney is extremely easy to hit and it could turn into another slugfest similar to Fury’s recent fight with Wilder.

Regardless, Joyce is on stand-by and is not the frontrunner to face Fury next. However, if he was to fight instead of Whyte we will be privileged to see another all-British clash that is likely to be action-packed between two boxers both going for the knockout.