Dillian Whyte labels Tyson Fury a 'coward' as heavyweight war of words intensifies

​The pair faced off on social media after Whyte posted a video on Instagram of Fury and Deontay Wilder

Whyte has come out swinging on social media (REUTERS)

Dillian Whyte has labelled Tyson Fury a “coward” after claiming that the Manchester-born former heavyweight champion has declined the opportunity to fight him.

Fury recently beat Francesco Pianeta in ten rounds in Belfast to continue his boxing comeback and announced his next fight with WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

The pair clashed on social media after Whyte posted a video on Instagram of Fury and Wilder, who will face each other in November, accompanied with Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Whyte captioned the video with “Embarrassing bunch of cowards. Let’s go chumps,” provoking a fiery riposte from his fellow Briton.

“Cowards??? It could have been you (facing Wilder)," Fury replied. "But someone didn’t want to fight the final eliminator vs (Luis) Ortiz, did you coward? So that’s why you’re not fighting Wilder.”

“What have you ever achieved? Oh, I remember, you got sparked by Anthony Joshua for the British title,” the 30-year-old continued.

“The facts are you’re just a dosser for Eddie Hearn, hoping you might get something from the leftovers of Anthony Joshua’s plate,” he added.

However, Whyte issued an angry response of his own to Fury’s comments, in which he implied that Fury was running frightened after the two had previously sparred together.

“Unlike you I’ll fight anyone. You refused to fight me as I knocked you down so many times in sparring and if you pull out in November with yet another fake injury I’m more than happy to take your place and smash up that other coward Tony Bellew,” he said.

Whyte, who last lost a fight in December 2015 to Joshua, recently beat Joesph Parker and has been keeping a close eye on negotiations between Wilder Fury and Joshua.