Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte, heavyweight boxing title fight, when is it, how to watch

The pre-fight antics ahead of most big fights have largely become rather tedious.

More often than not, two snarling fighters fling X-rated insults at each other from either end of a table.

Perhaps the rival camps will engage in a little push and shove at the face off, theatrics that rarely but increasingly likely will lead to a slap or two, before one or both fighters are led out the room hurling abuse at whoever gets in their way.

It's as predictable as it is tiresome, not least due to the manufactured nature of these rivalries.

There's nothing artificial about the rivalry between British heavyweights Dillian Whyte and two-time world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.

The patient challenger and the brash world champion have made frequent desultory comments to each other on social media over the years, stemming from Whyte's claim that he made Fury cry while sparring almost a decade ago.

Whyte didn't even turn up to the first press conference to sell the fight, prompting Fury to brand him «Frillian Whytenickers».

So to see the pair laughing and joking at this week's final press conference ahead of Saturday night's fight at a sold-out Wembley stadium was incongruous to say the least.

To see them acting as peace-makers in a spat between their respective support staff was even more bewildering.

«Sometimes you need to be a bit diplomatic,» Fury said.

«Both men are being paid to fight, so why do it all a few days before?»

The pair then swapped hats at Friday's weigh in, where Fury came in at 119kgs, his lightest fighting weight since his 2019 victory over Otto Wallin.

Whyte has had to be patient for his shot at a world title.

The 34-year-old has, according to some estimates, been first in line for a shot at the WBC version of the world