SAN FRANCISCO, October, (THEWILL) – British professional boxer Tyson Fury has confirmed cutting off his planned 3rd fight against his American challenger Deontay Wilder.
The Gypsy King, as Fury is popularly known, claimed he made the decision because organisers of the bout failed to deliver a date for the event in 2020. He says this now frees him to plan an all-British heavyweight unification showdown with his fellow Brit Anthony Joshua next year.
“I was looking forward to smashing Wilder again. A quick and easy fight,” Fury said. “But Wilder and his team were messing around with the date. They don’t really want to fight the lineal heavyweight champion.
“They know how it ends. The world knows how it will end: with Wilder on his ass again.
“Then they asked me if I would agree to push it to December. I agreed to Dec 19.
“Then they tried to change the date again into next year. I’ve been training. I’m ready. When they tried moving off Dec 19 and pushing to next year, enough was enough. I’ve moved on.”
THEWILL noticed that Fury then made sure to remind the world who he was. Just in the off chance that anyone has forgotten.
“I am the best fighter in the world. The lineal heavyweight champion. The two-time Ring magazine heavyweight champion. The WBC heavyweight champion. And before the end of 2021, I will be the only man on this earth with a heavyweight championship belt.”
Just the day before, Fury’s promoter Bob Arum, the American lawyer and boxing promoter, confirmed that the plan was for the WBC king to fight in the UK in December, before a 2021 match against Anthony Joshua in April or May.
Responding to a question of the possibility of another fight against Wilder for Fury, Arum said, “That’s up to Tyson because if we can’t, as appears to be the case, put on Wilder vs Fury this year, Tyson wants to keep busy and we are going to accommodate him.
“Then next year, assuming Joshua beats Pulev, we can look forward to a Fury vs Joshua fight.”
Putting off this trilogy of meetings with Wilder is not simply up to Fury alone. The WBC will have to approve it. Fury, still undefeated after 31 bouts, dethroned the American in February to secure the iconic green and gold belt. And neither Fury nor Wilder has informed the WBC of any plans to cancel their third showdown.
And, most significantly, the sanctioning giant has not given their blessing for Fury to defend his title against any other fighter in December.
Fury’s promoter in the United Kingdom, Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions said on Saturday: “I don’t know if that fight can get on this year.
“Promoters on both sides, we have worked very hard to make it happen, but it’s looking like it will not happen.
“There’s talk about it happening next year. Tyson has been training like a lot of guys solidly since February, and he wants to fight this year.
“My concern is Tyson’s welfare and well-being, and delivering what he wants, so he will fight this year.
“Contractual commitments are what they are, but contracts do not go on forever, and if the fight cannot be delivered within the contractual period, Tyson will move on and maybe revisit the fight another time.”
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.
