TYSON FURY’S undisputed clash against Anthony Joshua looks to be in severe doubt for August with a third fight against Deontay Wilder reportedly being planned for July.
Fury and AJ have been busy plotting their Saudi Arabia straightener since June, even promising a double-header before 2022
But a US judge has now decided, following an arbitration, that Wilder is legally due a third fight that must happen by September.
Fury battered the American to his first ever defeat in February last year to become the WBC heavyweight champion.
There was a rematch clause in the deal that Wilder has refused to give up on despite Team Fury claiming it had expired.
Now Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum is planning for Wilder first, to take place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on July 24.
He told ESPN: “We’re not paying Wilder to step aside. It’s better to get rid of him. We can make Fury vs AJ for November or December.”
Unless Team Fury win an appeal, the only way to secure the biggest fight in British boxing history will be paying Wilder off and, based on earnings from that last Las Vegas battle, that could be up to £8million.
AJ promoter Eddie Hearn has previously claimed that Wilder’s legal claim would pose no problem but he has also insisted that Joshua would refuse to contribute anything to the fee needed to buy Wilder out, which SunSport believes Fury will argue against.
But Arum’s latest words cast fresh doubt that Wilder can be shifted to one side to allow for the all-British clash.
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There could now be talks between Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, who is the WBO mandatory challenger.
Speaking to the Express, Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk has stated he will sit down with Eddie Hearn to discuss a potential fight.
He said: “The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning was several texts on my phone from different people around the world stating the same fact: Fury versus AJ is off. It is off.
“Regarding Usyk, it depends. I will speak to Eddie in one hour, we have already exchanged texts this morning.
“It looks like we have a fight to make. We have agreed to speak in one hour when things will become clearer.
“Usyk is mandatory for WBO and the only obstacle that made them sanction the interim was the huge unification between Fury and Joshua.
“And if the fight is off then there is no other obstacles and Joshua has to deal with his mandatory.”
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Wilder suddenly started training seriously again earlier this month and, worryingly for UK fight fans, already looks ready for a comeback bout
Former heavyweight world champ David Haye saw this coming last month when he told SunSport: “I have never heard of a long-running world champion – like Deontay Wilder was – not having a rematch clause in place in case he loses.”
“Deontay himself has been very quiet, the team around him have not given much away but I would be very surprised if does not have some sort of impact in the making of this fight or gets something out of it not being him Fury is facing next.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
