If Eddie Hearn is to be believed, then an interim heavyweight title will be on the line when contenders Dillian Whyte and Oscar Rivas meet in the ring this weekend.
Hearn told talkSPORT that the WBC will indeed have an interim title and that Whyte and Rivas will contest for it on July 20 with the winner possibly being in line for an eventual shot at the full world title being held by Deontay Wilder. This ends weeks of back-and-forth between Whyte's camp and the WBC in regards to their mandatory title situation as Whyte argued that he should be named Wilder's mandatory on account of him being ranked No. 1 by the sanctioning body for months.
Wilder is headed for a rematch against Luis Ortiz later this year, but after that, Wilder and Tyson Fury will more than likely have a rematch of their own in early 2020, potentially leaving the Whyte-Rivas winner without a WBC world title shot in the next 10 months. With that under consideration, Hearn also said the winner of the July 20 bout won't be getting a title shot soon, but should be getting one before May 18, 2020. The WBC is expected to make an announcement regarding the matter later this week, according to Hearn.
“This fight’s gonna be for the ‘interim’ world championship, the winner will be the mandatory challenger with the WBC and effectively will have to fight for the title before May 18. So basically the winner of this fight will go on and progress, and fight the winner of Wilder against Fury which looks set to take place early next year," Hearn said.
Whyte and Dominic Breazeale were actually ordered to fight for the interim WBC title earlier this year, but after negotiations between Wilder and Fury for a rematch fell through, Wilder then signed a fight deal with Breazeale.
As for the July 20 card, Whyte vs. Rivas will headline a Matchroom Boxing card from The O2 Arena in London that will be streamed on DAZN in every country the streaming platform is available in, including the United States.
