Tyson Fury has accepted the WBC’s order to face Dillian Whyte, but with a twist: he wants the sanctioning body’s “diamond” belt, not their interim title.

“I recently saw your quote about fighting for the interim title against Dillian Whyte and I’m very thankful for the opportunity,” Fury (27-0-1, 19 knockouts) said in a video uploaded to his Instagram account.

“But what I suggest is, because I beat Deontay Wilder and we all know what happened, I didn’t get the decision, but I still won and the world knows. I propose we make me and Dillian Whyte for the WBC ‘diamond’ belt and not the interim belt. Make it for the diamond belt not the interim version and you’ve got a deal. I’ll take care of Dillian Whyte and I’ll knock him out within six rounds.”

The counter-offer made by Fury, who fights unbeaten German Tom Schwarz on June 15 in Las Vegas, is curious, considering that the interim title typically confers mandatory challenger status, while the diamond belt, which was created by the WBC in 2009, is mostly a ceremonial belt without any real significance to it.

The Manchester native Fury, who is a year younger than Whyte at 30, won the heavyweight championship in 2015 by unseating long-time champion Wladimir Klitschko in Germany, but was out of the ring for nearly three years after. He revived his career with his performance last December, getting off the canvas twice in a draw against Wilder.

Whyte (25-1, 18 KOs) of the Brixton section of London, has been in the no. 1 spot – above Fury who is no. 2 – for a while but has yet to receive a title shot. He recently voiced his frustration about the sanctioning body’s decision making, telling BBC “the WBC is a joke,” adding “Boxing is a funny sport, it makes no sense. These things only happen in boxing.”

Whyte took to Twitter to accept Fury’s challenge, and taking the air out of Fury’s promise to score a KO if they fought.

“When was the last time you knock someone out mate @Tyson_Fury couldn’t even knock out a wxxk,” tweeted Whyte.

When was the last time you knock someone out mate @Tyson_Fury couldn’t even knock out a wxxk

— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) May 14, 2019

Whyte has his own business to handle first as he’s set to face 2008 Olympian Oscar Rivas (26-0, 18 KOs) on July 20 as the O2 Arena.

Fury is handled by Frank Warren and Top Rank while Whyte is with Matchroom Boxing and Wilder is with PBC.