By Tim Royner: Tyson Fury insists that the rematch with Deontay Wilder has “got to happen”, but he says if it doesn’t happen, he won’t be bothered, because he already beat him on December 1 last year in Los Angeles. The World knows that he beat Wilder, according to Fury. He says Wilder was a “nobody” before they fought each other, and he’s still a nobody.
The rematch plan that has been floated by Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing is for Fury to fight twice, once against German heavyweight Tom Schwarz on June 15, and then another fight later on this year, and then face Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) for his WBC heavyweight title in February of 2020. Wilder will need to defend his title twice more before he faces Fury next February if he agrees with Top Rank’s plans to let the rematch marinate. If Wilder doesn’t like the idea of being led around by the nose by Top Rank and Fury, then he can tell them to get lost, and focus on fighting other guys.
“How soon do you want to call soon? Tomorrow, next week, next month or next year?” Fury said to BT Sport when asked when he’ll be fighting Deontay Wilder again. “It’s going to happen. It’s a great fight. We put on a great show. It’s going to happen sooner or later,” Fury said about the rematch with Wilder. “It won’t be next, as we know, because I’m fighting Tom Schwarz, and he’s fighting Dominic Breazeale, but hopefully we get it after that,” Fury said.
The idea of letting the Wilder-Fury fight marinate might not be the best one that Top Rank has come up with. Promoter Bob Arum is assuming that Fury and Wilder will keep winning long enough for a rematch between them to be a big event. The problem is, Wilder is the World Boxing Council champion, and he can’t just look for easy marks to defend his title against the way that Fury can face soft opposition like Schwarz to impress fans. Wilder has to face quality guys, especially now that he’s about to defend his title against his mandatory Dominic Breazeale (20-1, 18 KOs) on May 18. Wilder is expected to sign a multi-fight deal with Showtime Boxing, and they’re going to want to see him fight good opposition. If Wilder loses to one of the two challengers that he’s going to need to defend his WBC belt against before February, then the rematch between him and Fury won’t be worth much. It’ll still be an interesting fight, but not nearly what it would be if it took place right now in May with both fighters still undefeated.
“Deontay, I’m not going to tell him what he can do,” Fury said. “Deontay already got beat by me in Los Angeles, so the world knows it. I have no interest in him at all. If the fight happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, he already lost and he knows it, his promoters know it, and his trainer knows it. His trainer left ringside when the decision was announced. Deontay is a nobody; lets face it,” Fury said.
If the Wilder vs. Fury rematch doesn’t happen, then both fighters will be hurt. Fury only has Wilder and Anthony Joshua for big money fights. Fury vs. Dillian Whyte won’t be as interesting, because Whyte isn’t a big name in the U.S. That would be a fight that would only generate interest in the UK. Will Top Rank let Fury fight Whyte? It’s a risky fight, and that’re probably not going to want to risk having Fury lose, and mess up his big money fight against Joshua. Top Rank is paying Fury a lot of money, hoping that he brings in the ratings and subscribers to their ESPN+ app. Fans aren’t going to want to subscribe to see Fury fight if he’s just going to be fighting guys like Schwarz.
The boxing public is split about who they think won the Wilder vs. Fury fight last December. While there are a lot of fans that think Fury out-boxed Wilder, there’s just as many that saw Wilder deserving the win due to him being the one pushing the fight, landing the harder shots, scoring two knockdowns, and coming close to knocking Fury out in the 12th.
“He was a nobody before he fought me,” Fury said. “He lost to me, and he’s still a nobody. It is what it is. I have no interest in talking about the bum. I can tell you what I can do with those two,” Fury said about Wilder and Anthony Joshua. “I can give them a job carrying my boots and bags. When they fight each other and they lose, and their careers are over, they can come to the Gypsy King and I’ll employ them, because let’s face it, they don’t have the most brains in the world. I’ll give them a job when they’ve spent all their money, because it’s coming. When they’re all skint, I’ll employ the boys, don’t worry. I’m fighting on June 15th in Las Vegas. As a little kid, I dreamed of getting to this level. It’s taken me 30 years to get to this position to box there,” Wilder said.
Wilder can make big money fighting Anthony Joshua if he doesn’t get a second fight against Fury. The U.S boxing fans are more interested in seeing Wilder and Joshua fight than watching a rematch between Deontay and Fury.
“I’ve never seen Billy Joe Saunders look so sharp,” Fury said. “When me and Billy Joe get together, it’s like steel sharpening steel. He’s trying to impress me, and I’m trying to impress him. We’re going to bring the best out of each other. When Billy Joe fights in eight to ten weeks, he’s going to smash whoever it is. He’s going to be world champion again. When you put Eddie [Hearn] and Frank [Warren] in the room, Frank is going to always come out on top. Even though he’s a foot shorter and 30 years older, I’m backing Frank Warren,” Fury said.
"Deontay is a nobody. He was a nobody before he fought me, and he's still a nobody."
"AJ is an even bigger dosser!"
"I'll give them a job when they've spent all their money."@Tyson_Fury on top form as usual 😂 pic.twitter.com/mPxGxNTAGs
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) March 24, 2019