It wasn’t easy to get the heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte over the line. All parties involved would acknowledge that. However, just because we have a date and a location – April 23 at Wembley Stadium in London – don’t expect plane sailing between now and the opening bell.

Fury, who will defend his Ring Magazine and WBC titles, and Whyte will engage in the most eagerly anticipated all-British heavyweight championship showdown since Lennox Lewis stopped Frank Bruno in October 1993.

But despite the historical significance of the bout, Fury was the only fighter present at today’s kick-off press conference, which was held at the national stadium and staged by Queensberry Promotions in association with Top Rank. Whyte refused to attend and is currently training in Portugal.

“Years from now, people will ask, ‘Where were you when Tyson Fury smashed this fella to pieces?’” said the unbeaten champion.

“I know Dillian Whyte is going to come in prepared. He’s going to come in rugged, and rough, and game and aggressive. I think both fighters are going for the knockout. I just think when I land this Lancaster bomber on his chin, it’s going to be over. That could be in round one and it could be in round six. I don’t see it going past then. I’m looking to put on an excellent night of boxing, sing a lot of songs, and party on down in ‘The Big Smoke.’”

Ever since the fight was officially signed, Whyte has maintained radio silence. The 33-year-old calls his own shots, but has a strong working relationship with Matchroom Boxing. Without going into detail, Matchroom hasn’t forwarded Christmas cards to Queensberry Promotions or Top Rank in quite some time, and the same goes vice versa.

This promotion is likely to have more ebb and flow than the fight itself. It’s happening already. First, there were rumors that Whyte wanted more money to help promote the event. Then Team Whyte said they wouldn’t attend because they weren’t officially invited, and that they suspected Fury wouldn’t appear.

Soap opera to one side, the good news is we have a fight and “The Gypsy King” wasn’t at a loss for words when it came to Whyte’s non-appearance. When the press conference concluded, he also took part in a stare down with himself, much to the amusement of the assembled media.

“The opponent doesn’t matter,” said Fury. “This is the Tyson Fury roadshow. I’m the only man from these shores that can pull it out, every single time, when the pressure’s on.  It doesn’t matter if I get knocked down twice in Round 4 (Fury was dropped twice by Deontay Wilder in their third fight), I will get back up and knock a mother f__ker out because that’s what I do.”

Promoter Frank Warren said tickets would start at £55 ($75) and there would be a 100,000 seat capacity at the venue.

Tom Gray is Managing Editor for Ring Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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