Dillian Whyte could become WBC champion if ‘an issue’ emerges with Tyson Fury’s 2015 drug test

Promoter Eddie Hearn believes UK Anti-Doping are set to investigate allegations that a member of Fury’s team offered £25,000 in exchange for a signed testimony relating to the consumption of wild boar

Dillian Whyte should become WBC heavyweight champion if there is “an issue” between Tyson Fury and UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), says promoter Eddie Hearn.

In the Mail On Sunday, a member of Fury’s team was alleged to have agreed to pay a farmer, Martin Carefoot, £25,000 in exchange for a signed testimony stating that he sold wild boar to the boxer in 2015.

Both Fury and his cousin Hughie returned drug tests to Ukad showing elevated levels of nandrolone metabolites in February year.

The allegation only came to light 18 months after the pair’s fights in question, with it later emerging that the boxers claimed to have ingested the substance, which is a banned anabolic steroid, by eating uncastrated wild boar.

Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, dismissed Carefoot’s claims as “outrageous” and “rubbish” in a statement: “The farmer making these outrageous allegations sent me a letter last October, full of errors and basically telling me he had committed perjury by signing statements under oath and lying.

Tyson Fury celebrates after defeating Deontay Wilder (Reuters)

“When I called him, he asked for money. I told him to clear off and get in contact with Ukad. He chose not to speak to Ukad but instead speak to a newspaper.

“How anybody can take this man seriously is beyond belief. Tyson has never met this man in his life. What a load of rubbish. We’ll leave this with Ukad to look into and don’t expect it to go any further.”

However, with Ukad set to investigate Carefoot’s claims, Hearn believes Whyte should be “looking at that situation” after the Brixton-based heavyweight was provisionally suspended by the WBC following an alleged adverse finding in a Ukad test last year.

“As I understand, it’s going to be looked into by Ukad,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “I guess the truth will come out in the wash.

“As I understand it, the key witness in the case has come out and effectively changed his statements of what happened.

“I’ll let them deal with that. If I’m Dillian Whyte right now, I’m looking at that situation, knowing that if there is an issue with Tyson Fury as world champion, I become the WBC heavyweight world champion, because right now, he was suspended while an investigation was taking place.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out.”