Dillian Whyte wants WBC to order Deontay Wilder to face him instead of Tyson Fury

Dillian Whyte is ready to step in and fight Deontay Wilder after Tyson Fury was forced to withdraw from their trilogy fight on July 24 following four positive COVID-19 tests among The Gypsy King's training camp.

Three fighters including Fury himself, Isaac Lowe, Joseph Parker and his assistant trainer Andy Lee returned positive results from a round of PCR testing in Las Vegas on Thursday, ahead of his third bout against 'The Bronze Bomber'.

“We continue to monitor the health status of Tyson and his team, and the status of the event has not changed to date,” a Top Rank statement said.

While Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is adamant that the event will still go ahead as planned despite the positive results, it will most likely be postponed to a later date in all likelihood, with several unconfirmed reports claiming that it could be as late as October, which would allow Fury sufficient time to recover from coronavirus symptoms.

However, Whyte insists that he has the perfect solution to the problem, as he feels that

The Body Snatcher, who grew up in Brixton, England but is originally from Port Antonio, Jamaica, is the current interim WBC heavyweight champion, having successfully reclaimed his title after he avenged his shock defeat to Alexander Povetkin with a fourth-round knockout of the Russian in their rematch in Gibraltar.

And now, Whyte has called on the governing body to install him as the full WBC heavyweight champion, citing a similar ruling from the WBC, who previously changed Vitali Klitschko's status to keep the division alive after the Ukrainian turned his attention to politics in his home country.

Klitschko's mandatory challenger Bernard Stiverne then knocked Chris Arreola down twice on the way to capturing the vacant heavyweight world title in May 2014 before losing his gold-plated strap to Wilder by a wide unanimous decision little more than six months' later at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

"This is why they have the interim champion," Whyte said to Sky Sports. "When stuff like this happens and fights fall through and the champion is injured or can't fight, or for whatever reason can't defend the title, then the interim champion steps up.

"That's how Wilder became champion in the first place. Remember Vitali Klitschko wasn't able to defend the title, because he was in the process of becoming a mayor, and they made him Emeritus champion and made the other belt for Stiverne to fight Arreola and then Wilder for, so this is a similar kind of thing.

"Make me world champion, I'll fight Wilder as a world champion, and the winner of that fights Tyson Fury, and the winner of that fights Anthony Joshua for the undisputed.

"That is where everything is solved with one action."

Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) also took aim at what he perceives as an attempt by his rivals to occupy the top spots and hold up the rest of the division.

"The only way Wilder will fight me is if I'm world champion," he added. "If the WBC makes me world champion and orders Wilder to fight me, we can fight.

"I've always tried to be the solution since the start of my career. I'll fight anyone. I don't care about all this politics. All I want to do is fight.

"Tyson Fury has held all the titles but has never made a single defence of any of them. It's a year and a half since he won the WBC belt and still no fight in sight. Just excuses. What the hell is going on? It's a joke!"

The 33-year-old also lamented what he sees as a relative lack of activity from the likes of Fury and Wilder as he feels that they both have padded records in comparison to his own.

He continued: "The WBC should make Fury champion in recess like they did Devin Haney, give me the belt, put me in the position, and I'll fight. I'll fight all of these guys.

"I've fought and beaten more of the WBC top 15 than Fury and Wilder put together. They should [The WBC] one hundred per cent do the right thing.

"There's been a lot of inactivity with the title. This is the worst the WBC title has ever been. The WBC heavyweight title has been a mess for years now. There have only been five fights against three opponents in four years. It's ridiculous!"