Dillian Whyte understands Otto Wallin’s frustration.

Whyte, too, has had fights canceled or postponed while he was training. An unapologetic Whyte still considers it “a no-brainer” to pursue a WBC championship showdown with Tyson Fury once his injured left shoulder heals, rather than rescheduling his fight with Wallin.

London’s Whyte withdrew last week from a 12-round fight against Wallin, which was supposed to be contested Saturday night at O2 Arena in London. Whyte acknowledged during an appearance on the newest episode of BBC’s podcast, “5 Live Boxing With Steve Bunce,” that he wants to fight Fury next, not Wallin.

“This is a no-brainer – to fight Tyson Fury … the best heavyweight there’s been ever,” Whyte told Bunce for an episode that debuted Tuesday on BBC’s website. “So, fight him or some idiot that don’t even know how to speak properly – all he does is cry. Him and Dmitriy Salita [Wallin’s promoter], all they do is cry like babies. You know what I mean? It’s like crying that he spent 15 grand on training camp. I’m like, ‘Dude, I spent 10 times the amount of that on training camp.’ You know what I mean?”

Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is not contractually obligated to reschedule his bout with Wallin. Sweden’s Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC) has requested proof of Whyte’s injury from Whyte’s doctor and for an independent physician to examine Whyte’s shoulder (https://www.boxingscene.com/wallin-wants-proof-whytes-shoulder-injury-from-whytes-doctor-independent-physician--161441).

Wallin, 30, has lost out on a payday of nearly $1 million and an opportunity to put himself in better position to secure a rematch with England’s Fury, who overcame a nasty gash over his right eye to out-point a game Wallin in September 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in London. The WBC did not declare Whyte-Wallin an elimination match, but the WBC could order Fury to fight Whyte next.

The 33-year-old Whyte owns the WBC interim heavyweight championship. The Jamaican-born boxer was supposed to make a voluntary defense of that title against Wallin, who is ranked 20th by the WBC.

Whyte also has sued the WBC because he didn’t receive the title shot to which Whyte believes he was entitled before Dominic Breazeale, who was rated behind Whyte, received a mandated fight for a WBC belt then owned by Deontay Wilder.

Alabama’s Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) knocked out Breazeale (20-3, 18 KOs) in the first round of their May 2019 bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Whyte was later upset by Russia’s Alexander Povetkin, but Whyte avenged his brutal, fifth-round knockout defeat to Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs) by stopping Povetkin in the fourth round of their one-sided, immediate rematch March 27 at Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar.

Now that Fury has beaten Wilder again, this time by 11th-round knockout October 9 at T-Mobile Arena, Whyte hopes to face Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) in what would be a high-profile fight anywhere in the United Kingdom early in 2022. 

“That’ll be the plan,” Whyte said. “It’s Wallin or Fury. Of course Wallin gonna be upset or whatever because he spent money [on training camp] that he thought he was gonna earn, and [it’s] an unfortunate situation. Many times I had fights that fell through. You know, you can never, you know, obviously you can’t be upset. This is an investment in your career and your future. And, I mean, obviously I see why he’s upset, obviously.

“But what you have to realize is some fighters don’t dodge fights, some fighters don’t pull out of fights. If I have an injury, I have an injury. But in that time, if there’s a potential better opportunity that comes up, I’m not gonna – I’ve been waiting for like a long time to fight for the world title. I’m not gonna put it off to fight Otto Wallin. Come on, man.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.