As the undisputed heavyweight title fight against Anthony Joshua is now sidelined, Tyson Fury will reportedly clash against his former foe Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight, which is targeted on 24th July in Las Vegas.
The claim was made by ESPN as citations from multiple sources suggest that both fighters have verbally agreed to face each other on 24th July at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. However, as reported by Mark Kriegel of ESPN, 14th August is also considered as an alternative date.
Kriegel further claimed that the fight purse is split 60-40 in favor of the WBC heavyweight champion, while Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is aiming to ink the fight contract in the next few days.
Should be a relatively easy fight for Fury: Bob Arum
The dramatic turn of events happened after Wilder won his arbitration case against Fury about their trilogy. And as per the two fight deal the two boxers mutually agreed on their first clash in 2018, Fury will have to fight Wilder prior to facing anyone else, including Joshua.
“We’re finishing the paperwork,” Arum said in an interview with BoxingScene, “July 24th is the working date. Hopefully, we can get it done today. All of the terms are spelled out in that old rematch clause that we had in the original [two-fight] deal. There was very little work to do, almost nothing. It was a two-page document.”
While their first encounter ended in a draw, Fury completely overpowered Wilder in their rematch in February last year, delivering a 7th round TKO win at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, ending the “Bronze Bomber”s title reign as well as giving him his first career defeat.
“Will it be any different from the last fight?,” the Top Rank chief went on, “who knows? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. What am I gonna say? Based on the last fight, it should be a relatively easy fight for Fury. But you know in boxing, particularly with the heavyweights, this next fight could turn out different.”
While the Fury vs Wilder 3 is a much-anticipated fight for the boxing fandom, the fight against Joshua, which would have seen all four major titles on the line to determine the king of the heavyweight division, is now pushed back for the future once again, and the entire drama surrounding the fight has angered AJ himself.
