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WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has fired back at Dillian Whyte for his post-fight claims of an “illegal” push.
Fury compared Whyte to Deontay Wilder, who made wild allegations in the aftermath of his second fight with Fury in 2020.
Back in April, before a crowd of 94,000 at Wembley Stadium, Fury knocked out Whyte in the sixth round of their mandatory fight.
After controlling the entire contest, Fury landed a vicious uppercut that had Whyte out on his feet. When the punch landed, Whyte was badly hurt and seemed to be falling forward onto Fury – who instinctively pushed him back. Whyte crashed to the mat and was laying flat out. Whyte was able to beat the count, but he was still visibly hurt and the fight was waved off by the referee.
Whyte offered his respect to Fury on the night of the fight. But the following day, Whyte claimed that he was badly hurt by an “illegal” push by Fury and should have been given additional time to recover by the referee.
Whyte claimed that his head bounced off the mat when Fury pushed him down.
However, numerous observers took to social media to release slow-motion videos of the knockdown from several angles. The videos contradict Whyte’s claim of his head bouncing off the mat.
Fury, who reviewed videos of the knockdown, was disappointed by Whyte’s statements.
“It was a bit of a let down, to be fair because on the night he didn’t make any excuses, like the old Bronze Bomber. And then the next day he came out with a load of bullsh!t, after the fight, about being pushed over and his head hitting the canvas,” Fury told Queensberry Promotions.
“I watched it, he got chinned and was going to topple on to me, so I just shoved him off and his head didn’t hit the canvas or floor. Watch the video back and you’ll see his head never once touched the canvas or floor. I don’t know what video he has but the ones I have seen show it was a one-sided beatdown and knockout.
“I said a prayer for him before the fight, I prayed for his best performance and that both men get out the ring safely and we did that. There’s no disrespect from me to Dillian Whyte, the man tried his best in there. In boxing people only remember you as only being as good as your last fight, Dillian went in and tried his best and wasn’t good enough and there is no shame in that.
“What he should be embarrassed about is these silly comments afterwards. His performance was the best he could and he just lost to a better man on the night. If I have ever lost I would have walked over to the other man and told me he’s a good man, and that’s it. Thankfully that’s never happened to me so I have never had to humble myself in defeat. But if I do I will shake his hand and say, ‘Let’s go for a beer’.”