Earlier this week, a story surfaced that strongly suggested former WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder was agreeable to taking a $10 million step aside sum, to allow Tyson Fury to fight someone else (the someone else being Anthony Joshua in a massive all-British unification clash). We never actually heard Wilder say he was willing to take step aside dough, and it turns out he will not be doing so.
It was all “fantasy,” according to Fury promoter Bob Arum. Arum, speaking with Ringside Reporter, said Wilder is still determined to avenge his February loss to Fury and that “The Bronze Bomber’s” people have told him that the original rescheduled date of October is still acceptable. Arum says if the fight doesn’t happen, then it could happen in either November or December.
“The Wilder people when they saw these stories made it known to us and MTK that Wilder was not amendable to step aside,” Arum said. “That he wanted to fight Fury again and gain revenge. So these stories about step-aside were fantasies. Rather than being fueled by Wilder, Wilder, from the get-go, reacted negatively to the idea of [taking] a step aside. I’ve been informed by the Wilder people that the original [rescheduled] October date was acceptable and he could make a fight as early as that date. So certainly [if not October] November, December would be a no-brainer.”
So there it is, Wilder is a proud fighter intent on redeeming himself, and no amount of step aside cash would prevent him from going for revenge in fight-three. As for Fury, he has said via social media that he himself would never agree to pay Wilder any step aside money, that he wants to beat him up again. Fury says the plan is for him to box the contracted third fight with Wilder before the end of the year and then have not one but two massive fights with Joshua in 2021.
Why two? Because Fury says, he will beat Joshua badly in fight-one, and then Joshua will call for the return. Let’s wait and see. Might Wilder shock us all and, better prepared than he was in February, give Fury a much tougher time of things in fight-three? Maybe.