By Jim Dower: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder denies that his fight against Tyson Fury is off. Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) says that there’s too much money to be made for the fight, and that Fury would be humiliated if he backed out. The Fury-Wilder fight still hasn’t been negotiated, but it’s supposed to be taking place in November if the fight gets made. There are a lot of doubters like promoter Eddie Hearn, who think the Wilder vs. Fury fight WON’T take place.
Last Friday, Dan Rafael of ESPN said he was told by one of Hearn’s management team that the Wilder-Fury fight won’t take place. This seems to be news to Wilder though, as he thinks the fight with Fury is still on.
”Exactly, Fury will be fighting. He’s not changing his mind,” Wilder said to Tha Boxing Voice. ”There’s too much money on the line for him and I. We’re going to make a fortune, but never mind that. The Gypsy King will be fighting or he will be humiliated by all, especially his people.”
It’s not up to Wilder whether the fight with Fury will be taking place. It’s Fury that is said to be the one that is potentially pulling out of the fight, according to Rafael. If Fury has suddenly lost his nerve for whatever reason, then it doesn’t matter what Wilder says. He can’t make Fury take the fight if he doesn’t want to step inside the ring with the dangerous punching Wilder.
”The latest from Fury’s team is that he is now apparently balking at the fight,” Rafael said during his chat at ESPN.com. ”I was told yesterday by a member of his management team.”
It’s not all that surprising that the Fury vs. Wilder fight is already seemingly crashing into the rocks. This is a fight that was always going to be one that likely wouldn’t get made. What’s surprising is it took a couple of weeks before the talk of the fight not happening finally took place. Wilder obviously wants the fight, as he’s never been involved in a mega-fight during his 10-year pro career. Wilder has een fighting steadily since he started his career in 2008. In Fury’s case, he was out of the ring for 2 ½ years after his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, and he put on over 100 pounds and was weighing close to 400 pounds before he started his comeback.
Fury is rumored to be getting $20 million for the Wilder fight, which is a ton of money for a fight that might not happen. On the other hand, if Fury keeps taking soft touches like he’s been doing since he made his comeback last June, he can eventually get a monstrous payday against Anthony Joshua in 2019 or 2020. The money will likely be much better for Fury fighting Joshua than it would for him to face Wilder.
