Getty The tale of the tape favors Tyson Fury for his fight with Dillian Whyte.
Tyson Fury will be wary of Dillian Whyte’s punching power when the pair square off at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Fury is defending his WBC heavyweight title against a thumper who has just two defeats on his professional record, albeit those were memorable knockouts suffered at the hands of Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin.
Whyte will be hoping Fury’s mind isn’t fully on the job, since ‘The Gypsy King’ has discussed the possibility of retirement after the fight. If Whyte can gain an edge and land one of his formidable left hooks, he could spring what would be more than a mild upset.
There isn’t much to choose between the two in the tale of the tape, with Fury having an obvious advantage in reach, while the power belongs to Whyte.
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In the United States, the main PPV card (2 p.m. ET start time) can be purchased through ESPN+ right here:
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Once you’ve purchased the PPV, you can watch Fury vs Whyte live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
For all of those options, you’ll need to sign in with your ESPN+ account to watch the prelims (1 p.m. ET, ESPN+) and the main card (2 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV).
Tale of the Tape Favors Fury
There isn’t much difference between the records of both men. Whyte has won 28 of his 30 fights, per BoxRec, while Fury is unbeaten across 32 bouts, having won 31 times.
Whyte has 19 knockouts to his credit, while Fury has managed 22. That may surprise some, with many believing Whyte packs the greater punch.
Among them, Bleacher Report’s Lyle Fitzsimmons says “there’s little reason to envision a guy giving away five inches in height and seven inches in reach winning a technical match at distance.”
It makes sense since 6’9″ Fury has an obvious height advantage over 6’4″ Whyte. The latter’s best hope will be to get in close, provided he can work underneath the Fury jab.
That won’t be easy when ‘The Gypsy King’ has a reach of 85 inches, compared with the 78 managed by Whyte. Yet, if Whyte can work his way inside, he could score some of those feared hooks and hurt Fury, who is the heavier of the two fighters.
Fury tipped the scales at 264 pounds during the weigh-in, while ‘The Body Snatcher’ was listed at 253 pounds, according to Mail Online’s Matt Davies and Jeff Powell. Relying on his signature punch would involve Whyte working on the inside and crowding Fury early.
It’s something the champion can avoid by adopting what Fitzsimmons calls the “Kronk style endorsed by trainer SugarHill Steward and fight on the front foot as a stalker.”
The style is highlighted by Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren and Queensberry promotions:
💥 The Kronk version of @Tyson_Fury only does vicious knockouts.
🤬 @DillianWhyte will most certainly get his wish for maximum violence.
#FuryWhyte | Saturday | BT Sport Box Office
If Fury starts and stays on the front foot, he’ll make the difference in size count and eventually wear Whyte down. Fury has promised a KO, stating his right hand will send Whyte tumbling, per The Sun‘s Wally Downes Jr.: “He’s no pushover. Unfortunately as soon as I crack him with this right hand, I will knock him out. He’s fighting the best there ever was in this division. He will get knocked out. That’s a promise.”
Fury scored a knockout blow in his last fight, an 11th-round KO of Deontay Wilder last October. Whyte’s last fight was back in March 2021, when he scored a TKO victory over Povetkin.
It was a measure of revenge for Whyte, who was dropped by a Povetkin uppercut in the fifth round in 2020. Whyte was made to suffer by the same punch from Anthony Joshua five years earlier.
Those are the only blemishes on his record, and Whyte has proved his resilience by bouncing back to force his way into the title picture. By contrast, Fury has been entertaining thoughts of retirement, something the 33-year-old recently discussed with TalkSport, while also making reference to frustrated attempts to make a showdown with Joshua happen:
“This is the final farewell.” 🥊
“Anthony Joshua has had his chances. They had chances but they didn’t do it.”
@Tyson_Fury tells talkSPORT he’ll never fight Joshua and is set for retirement.
If Fury’s fully focused on Saturday night, he should have enough left in the locker to see off Whyte before needing to go the distance.