Dillian Whyte has been accused by Bob Arum of behaving like 'a damn fool' for demanding more money to promote his fight with Tyson Fury.
Fury's UK-based promoter Frank Warren paid a record £30.6million to win the purse bid - £24.5million of which will go to the Gypsy King - for the fight.
Whyte, 34, will reportedly earn a career-best £6million plus another £4million if he somehow manages to beats Fury for the WBC heavyweight title, despite being a huge underdog.
But the Body Snatcher has so far refused to sign his contract as he wants a bigger slice of the pie that's currently on offer.
However Arum, who co-promotes Fury with Warren, is apparently fed-up with the latest attempt to try to get more money out of him.
Arum told Warren's Queensberry Promotions' YouTube channel: "He's trying to get more money. Simple as that. He's trying to hold us up.
"One thing when you win a purse bid, it says that the fighters will help in ways to promote.
"Well that's sort of ambiguous. And most fighters, because they're professional they will promote.
Boxing - Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder - WBC Heavyweight Title - T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. - October 9, 2021 Tyson Fury poses for a photograph with promoters Frank Warren and Bob Arum during a press conference after winning the fight against Deontay Wilder REUTERS/Steve Marcus
"Now he's saying, 'I want extra money to promote, because you're stuck paying me what the purse bids said which is 7.3 million dollars and I want some more money from you to get out there and promote.'"
Arum continued: "And our position is, well we're not going to give it to you. Now, if the fight does enormously well, yeah we'll give you a taste at the backend where everybody has made money.
"But we're not going to be put in a position where you're threatening us, that you're not going to participate in the promotion. If he doesn't, he's a damn fool.
"Because again, there's always tomorrow and even if he loses the fight, which he figures to do, by participating in the promotion he builds his own image and his own career.
"And secondly and even more important, he really needs the exposure from this big fight and his threat is, that he's not going to avail himself to that exposure."
Arum also played down Whyte's chances of beating Fury and becoming world champion but admitted he is a 'dangerous' opponent.
He added: "Yeah, it is a dangerous fight, you know that.
"Whyte is a good puncher, he's very competitive, but I've said to everybody that Tyson Fury is the best heavyweight out there, by far and wide.
"That doesn't mean that he can't be beat, because any man can be beat, but I don't think he'll be beat.
"But is Whyte dangerous? Yeah, but again, so was Wilder. Very, very dangerous, and Fury three times did his business with Wilder.
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