Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, states that his boxer will stay active if a deal is not reached with mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte.

Last month, the sanctioning body ordered an 80-20 split in Fury's favor - if the fight heads to a purse bid.

Whyte and the WBC have continued to engage in a legal battle behind the scenes - with Whyte seeking to obtain a higher split in a purse bid.

Whyte and his handlers are trying to secure something closer to a 45% split. The WBC believes an 80-20 split is fair - based on the submitted earnings of both boxers in their recent outings.

The scheduled purse bid has been postponed twice, with this coming Friday, January 21, as the newest date set down.

Arum would rather have an agreement reached between the two sides, but he's ready to take part in a purse bid if necessary.

Whyte's ongoing arbitration with the WBC is reportedly going to land on a date in March. 

“I think unless an agreement is reached with Dillian Whyte, [the purse bid] will go ahead sometime in the coming week. Maybe not on Tuesday, maybe on Friday, but there it is. The WBC has decreed that Whyte will get 20 percent of the purse bid and if the purse bid goes ahead, we’ll figure out what that 20 percent comes to," Arum told Talk Sport.

“I’m always optimistic that a deal gets done before the purse bid. I don’t think a purse bid does anybody any good. I think the parties should sit down, there’s plenty of money involved, and just work out a normal deal. Obviously there’s talks to try and settle the matter so it goes ahead without purse bids.

“If Dillian Whyte is not gonna fight for whatever reason, obviously we’re not gonna keep Tyson Fury – not gonna make him pay the price of waiting. Fury wants to fight and wants to fight sooner rather than later. We can look around, get a good, decent opponent for him to fight if Whyte isn’t available. You’ve got guys like Robert Helenius and Manuel Charr. You just look at the rankings and pick a couple of guys from the rankings who would make decent opponents.”