It’s now official that Deontay Wilder has triggered his rematch clause for a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury for the summer, according to Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum. He says he was contracted by Team Wilder and they want the trilogy fight. Arum says the Fury vs. Wilder 3 fight will take place in mid-July.
Arum says he’s open to making Fury vs. Anthony Joshua in December if both fighters win their next matches.
The former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) WON’T be stepping aside so that Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) can face IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua next.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn had hoped that Wilder would step aside for the good of boxing so that Joshua and Fury could fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
“Wider and his representatives formerly notified us last night that they’ve accepted the rematch. It’ll happen in July. It’ll happen in the middle of July,” said Arum to Ringside Reporter Live.
“If Joshua beats Pulev and Fury beats Wilder, then why not do a Joshua-Fury fight at the end of the year. And we would then sit with Eddie and work it out. These fights have to play out first.
Arum also revealed that the Wilder vs. Fury 2 fight brought in approximately 800,000 buys on PPV in the UK. As far as the number of buys in the U.S, that’s still being calculated. Arum believes that the numbers will be higher than the rumored buy rate.
Most boxing fans aren’t giving Wilder much of a chance of beating Fury in the third fight. Fury showed a lot more skills in beating Wilder by a 7th round knockout last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilder was down twice in the fight. His trainer Mark Breland pulled him out of the fight in the 7th. Wilder posted on social media on Friday that he’ll be taking the rematch with Fury, and that he will be recapturing his title.
Wilder could be putting his career on the line in triggering the rematch clause with Tyson. If Wilder loses by another knockout to Fury, it could be the end of the line for him. There’s only 4 months for Wilder to prepare for the fight with Fury, and that might not be enough time for him to get ready for his tricky style.
Fury will likely try and pressure Wilder on the inside like he did last Saturday, and that could make it tough on ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
