Wilder vs Fury: Looking to May or June

[oogiebe]

by Mike Coppinger

There’s no deal yet, but Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury are on a collision course yet again.

PBC officials are in advanced talks with Fury promoter allegedly as they attempt to complete a deal for the highly anticipated heavyweight championship rematch, sources told The Ring. The fight is being targeted for a date in late May or early June, according to sources, with the fight likely to land at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, or T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Representatives for PBC and Warren are trying to hammer out value for both Wilder and Fury following their meeting last month that ended in a controversial draw. The Showtime Pay-Per-View generated approximately approximately 325,000 buys, per sources. The rematch appears headed to pay-per-view, too. Both fighters enhanced their market value with their performances, the PPV debut for each big man.

Fury, 30, outboxed Wilder over the first half of the bout, which took place at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Wilder, 33, rallied to drop Fury in Round 9 and then again in the final round, when it appeared the lineal champion was out. But the Brit rose to his feet at the count of six and even hurt Wilder later in the 12th in one of the most memorable heavyweight title fights in recent years.

This leaves AJ in the lurch without a dance partner. This, with Miller still without an opponent for January 18 (next week) lends me to believe that AJ will take on Big Baby rather than Whyte, as there seems to be more interest in AJ/Miller than AJ/Whyte II. Too bad for Whyte, who fought his way to another title shot; good for those of us who want Miller to be dropped faster than hot potato. Dear promoters, please get these fights ironed out already!

[gilgamesh]

Since AJ doesn't seem to be in serious talks with either of them a rematch seems like a solid plan for these two to me.

[oogiebe]

Since AJ doesn't seem to be in serious talks with either of them a rematch seems like a solid plan for these two to me.

Occam's razor...

[DrDuke]

Great, if they are really heading to it. This time The Gypsy King should leave no chances for Wilder to shine at least a one second.

[greg]

..rematch is a good idea, Las Vegas is not and Fury should know it..

[Onetimeonly]

Freaking wilder, ducking whyte yet again

[KiwiRider]

May or June?
Flippin' miles away.
2 months camp is all they need.

[DrDuke]

Freaking wilder, ducking whyte yet again

C'mon, Whyte bout opportunity is his salvation, no reason to duck it.

[Onetimeonly]

Freaking wilder, ducking whyte yet again

C'mon, Whyte bout opportunity is his salvation, no reason to duck it.

That post was aimed to read 100% on the sarcasm meter.

[KiwiRider]

If Fury wins, and I think he will, then the rematch will probably be at the end of the year, so no Joshua fight for either of them until 2020
And we get to look forward to AJ Vs Whyte and Miller, and maybe Pulev which sucks x 3

[oogiebe]

If Fury wins, and I think he will, then the rematch will probably be at the end of the year, so no Joshua fight for either of them until 2020
And we get to look forward to AJ Vs Whyte and Miller, and maybe Pulev which sucks x 3

I'm not too certain how the public would like to see Wilder/Fury III.

[DrDuke]

Freaking wilder, ducking whyte yet again

C'mon, Whyte bout opportunity is his salvation, no reason to duck it.

That post was aimed to read 100% on the sarcasm meter.

Oh, sorry for not getting that.

[Onetimeonly]

Very interesting rematch. I expect both to be better. The deciding factor for me actually is if wilders right arm was compromised. He's no technical wizard to begin with but it looked extra awkward the whole fight. That might have just been fury. It will be another stinker with either a spectacular wilder ko or a make up decision for Tyson. Not insinuating he won't earn it but the outcry will have judges siding with him in all of those nothing rounds.

[nmhz]

The Rematch should be in the UK

[jamamb]

hopefully wilder wins by big ko, him vs aj for all the marbles would be far more exciting a prospect then aj vs fury every would, i know furys effctive in his own way but its not the same thing

[Onetimeonly]

The Rematch should be in the UK

It would definitely be a better atmosphere, just makes more money here.

[candyslim]

Obviously no sense fighting Whyte now but the Fury re-match is a side-show, he should be fighting Joshua. Unification trumps all.

[Onetimeonly]

I'm fine with the rematch. Settle it and the winner gets Joshua. It appears that the offer wasn't even worth a response.

[candyslim]

US$28m if you believe one or two you-tubers. That's totally unsubstantiated of course, but I doubt the offer isn't considerably more than Wilder got or will get for Fury.

We know Wilder called the $15m offer 'slave wages' and that Hearn has been back with at least one further offer. Obviously this has got to be more than the previous one and is claimed to include a guaranteed minimum and a percentage.

He doesn't want a unification against Joshua any more than he wanted a unification against Klitschko. I don't really blame him - better a circumspect WBC champion than a beaten would-be undisputed champion, some might say.

[Onetimeonly]

Well, if you believe everything hearn says you're quite naive. Wilder wants all the top guys. That's crystal clear.

[oogiebe]

Wilder facing Ortiz then Fury and now perhaps Fury again doesn't sound like he's ducking anyone. I assume we all want the top three (Fury/Wilder/AJ) to finish all of their business with one another.

[candyslim]

Well, if you believe everything hearn says you're quite naive. Wilder wants all the top guys. That's crystal clear.

I don't take as gospel anything anyone says, certainly not a promoter, however Wilder has confirmed that Joshua is begging for a fight and that his team have been reaching out. He has confirmed he's not interested in fighting Joshua which tends to corroborate what Hearn said that they have had no response to various e-mails and telephone calls. He doesn't want the unification, he said so himself.

Deontay has upped his game this year to be sure. The fight with Ortiz was a good one and gave Deontay the opportunity to show he can absorb a good shot, as well as sustained punishment, and that he has the heart of a champion in the ring. Let's not kid ourselves though. It was never expected to be so tough. Ortiz was at least 39 years old, some say more like 49. He looked to be finished after looking awful against Malik Scott and Dave Allen. He was also on blood-pressure medication.

Don't get it twisted. Ortiz, like Klitschko, proved despite his age, he was still a most formidable opponent, but he was selected because he was wrongly anticipated to be a low risk opponent whose name would look great on the resume.

Same with Fury. It was a good fight. Most people thought Fury won, but I have no complaint with the draw. Deontay showed the guts and determination to keep going right to the end, despite having been given a boxing lesson for most of the night, but again Fury was picked as being a lamb to the slaughter whose name would look great on Deontay's record.

There is nothing wrong with weighing the risks against the rewards but let's not pretend that Wilder has a record of taking on top six contenders each time out. That would be to confuse him with Joshua.

[Onetimeonly]

That fight was far from good, but it screams rematch. Good on both of them for doing the right thing. Joshua is the money man, wilder doesn't have that luxury. Even still he's faced the tougher fights of late in voluntaries. It really doesn't look like fast Eddie and aj want the risk. Doesn't matter what he does, you'll always be bitching and whining.

[The Asleep Lamps]

I thought Joshua should have outbid Wilder for Fury following the draw, as most saw Tyson as the winner. But if Fury outboxes Wilder in the rematch, then that just brings us closer to Joshua vs Fury for the lineal/undisputed championship after all.

[candyslim]

That fight was far from good, but it screams rematch. Good on both of them for doing the right thing. Joshua is the money man, wilder doesn't have that luxury. Even still he's faced the tougher fights of late in voluntaries. It really doesn't look like fast Eddie and aj want the risk. Doesn't matter what he does, you'll always be bitching and whining.

That's complete nonsense and I suspect you know it. My attitude to any fighter depends entirely on their actions, their inactions and their words.

I don't dislike the rematch at all but the unification opportunity blows it out the water. If it were any other fighter than Wilder I really don't think you would be so understanding about them looking the other way.