BEVERLY HILLS, May 17, (THEWILL) – In an unexpected twist of circumstances, the highly-anticipated unification bout between British heavyweight boxers Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has been called off after American boxer, Deontay Wilder, won his legal case for a contractual trilogy bout against the ‘Gypsy King,’ Fury.
Just as the finer details were sorted out and the all-British undisputed showdown was set to go down on August 14 in Saudi Arabia, after delays over contract terms and agreements, this litigation judgement has thrown a huge spanner in the works of those who have laboured to bring it about.
Fury had secured a famous victory over the American in February 2020 to take Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title and Wilder, who was unconvinced about Fury’s superiority over him, activated his clause to force a trilogy contest as contained in the agreements they signed.
Several factors continued to delay set dates as an injury to Wilder and the shutdown of everything sports-related due to the pandemic caused several date shifts until Fury’s team announced that they were moving on from the contest as it was their belief that the contract had expired considering all the delays.
That announcement did not go down well with the Americans, whose reaction involved the activation of a dispute resolution provision within the contract, which took the matter to legal arbitration for a resolution that will compel the two parties to abide by the trilogy terms of the contract accordingly.
Presiding over the matter, the arbitrator, retired judge Daniel Weinstein, examined the evidence and ruled in Wilder’s favour with the very clear insistence that Fury must fight Wilder by a September 15 deadline.
How that can play out with respect to Joshua entering the right to slug it out against Fury as initially scheduled remains unclear for the time being. When the trio of boxers involved, their crew, promoters and host country have divested the shock, a resolution will be reached on the way forward.
Coincidentally, the news of the judgement of judge Weinstein came 24 hours after Fury had officially confirmed the August 14 date of his fight against Joshua for the unification bout, which heightened the expectations from fans that could not wait to follow what was billed to be one of the biggest bouts in boxing history.
In a video he posted online on Sunday, Fury said: “I’ve got some massive news for you all guys.
“I’ve just got off the phone from Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia, he’s told me this fight’s 100 per cent on. August 14, 2021, summertime. All eyes of the world will be on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“I cannot wait, repeat, cannot wait to smash Anthony Joshua on the biggest stage of all times.”
The judgement of Weinstein means the Fury/Joshua has to be called off. Except the three boxers can reach a compromise, there is likely never going to be the unification fight from whence will emerge the undisputed King of the heavyweight class.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
