By Jim Dower: Former heavyweight champion Tyson ‘Gypsy King’ Fury took to social media to volunteer to step in to face WBC heavyweight Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) in place of IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua after the negotiations between him and Deontay fell apart this week. Fury, 29, chose to apologize on Joshua’s behalf for the time that Deontay wasted trying to get a fight against him.
We don’t know if Fury is serious about wanting to step in to face the 6’7” Wilder. With all the money that Fury can make for a fight against Joshua in the future, he might not be willing to take the risk in facing Wilder. Fury would likely make a career-high payday fighting Wilder, but he would risk the money he could make facing Joshua in the future. It would be a gamble on Fury’s part. If he beats Wilder, he’ll become a huge star in the UK and it would make his fight against Joshua even bigger. But if Fury loses to Wilder, then it would hurt the money he’ll eventually make in a fight against Joshua.
Fury said he wants to “apologize on their [Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn] behalf, because I’m from the same country,” and said he would “sign the contract in ten-seconds” if a contract is send to him by Deontay’s management.
Wilder has never fought anyone with the size and reach of the 6’9” Fury, and that could make things very difficult for him when he gets inside the ring with him.
Fury defeated Sefer Seferi by a 4th round stoppage in his comeback fight earlier this month. Fury was fighting for the first time in 2 ½ years and it showed, as he had problems initially with the pressure that the short 5’9” Seferi was putting on him. Had Fury been facing a better fighter, it’s unclear whether he would have won the contest.
In the last month, Fury and former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew have been going back and forth trash talking each other and talking about a fight. Bellew wants to face Fury in the fall in a fight that would make both of them a lot of money. It’s possible that Fury will take that fight rather than a risky one against Wilder.
“They won’t fight you, they strung you along for three months,” Fury said to Wilder in commenting about Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.
Fury said that that Wilder needs to face ”the best this country has ever produced,” in referring to himself, and saying, ”The ball is in your court.”
Fury vs. Wilder would be a huge fight if it took place in the next four months. Fury taking the Wilder fight will undoubtedly upset Joshua and Hearn, because he would be stealing their thunder by taking the fight that they’ve seemed reluctant to take for the last two years.
Wilder is likely going to be defending against his WBC mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale next, although he would surely jump at the chance to fight Fury if he’s serious about facing him.
Wilder and Fury have talked a lot in the past about facing each other, but the fight has never
materialized. Fury needs to get more fights under his belt to get the ring rust off before facing Wilder, because it would be a mistake if he took it right now. Fury would shock the boxing world by agreeing to face Wilder, but he’d likely lose the contest.