Deontay Wilder: ‘Tyson Fury contract is signed,’ fight comes after Luis Ortiz

By Boxing News - 05/31/2019 - Comments

Image: Deontay Wilder: 'Tyson Fury contract is signed,' fight comes after Luis Ortiz

By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder revealed on Friday that “contracts have been signed” for a rematch against Tyson Fury, and the fight will be taking place after his his contest with Luis Ortiz. The rematch between WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) and Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) still doesn’t have a date or a venue, but it’s believed that it’ll be take place at the end of September.

Wilder vs. Fury 2 will take place in early 2020. The timing of the announcement interesting to say the least.

The announcement by Wilder to his 470,000 followers on Twitter on Friday would seem like an effort to undercut the interest that American boxing fans have in a fight between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. this Saturday night on June 1 on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York. A lot of casual and hardcore fans in the U.S are interested in the Joshua vs. Ruiz Jr. fight, even though it’s expected to be a sick mismatch.

Here’s what Wilder had to say on social media about his news of a rematch with lineal heavyweight champion Fury:

“đź’«All Contracts have been signed already‼️ it’s officially on‼️ One fell to his Knee, the other on his Back…If you got questions then “We run it back”.

🎥 413 media
#BombZquad #WeWorking #TilThisDay #King

By no means am I’m I looking pass Ortiz, He’s a dangerous fighter but I am looking through him. (Window Shopping). I’m the best [and] ain’t No guess’N…what other champion give you what your Miss’N.”

Wilder vs. Fury 2 more appealing fight than Joshua-Ruiz

So there it is. Deontay says the contracts are signed for his rematch with former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs). Wilder-Fury fought to a 12 round draw last December in Los Angeles, California. Many boxing fans felt that Fury had done enough to deserve the victory, but he was knocked down twice in the championship rounds. That hurt Fury’s chances of winning the fight due to him being the challenger.

Wilder, 6’7″, is making some great fights against Fury and Ortiz. Joshua and Dillian Whyte chose not to fight Ortiz, and Wilder showed a lot of courage in facing him last March. Fury wanted to fight Joshua, but he was given a low ball 60-40 offer by his promoter Eddie Hearn, and that’s why he’s not facing him. To this day, Hearn still sees Fury as deserving only 40% cut for a fight with Joshua. Wilder is likely giving Fury a 50-50 deal, so the fight between them is happening.

Joshua left out in the cold once again

Hearn and Joshua have tried to put pressure on Wilder this week in an effort to seemingly marginalize him in the eyes of his own American boxing fans. They want Wilder to sign for a fight, but they’re likely not offering him the 50-50 split that he wants. Wilder was given a flat fee offer to fight Joshua last year. He wasn’t even given a percentage split. Joshua ended up fighting Alexander Povetkin instead of Wilder last September. That could have been Joshua vs. Wilder if Hearn had made the 50-50 offer that Deontay wanted. This week, Hearn and Joshua are trying to make it look like Wilder doesn’t want the fight. Joshua will likely need to wait until Wilder fights Ortiz, Fury and Adam Kownacki. Those are the three matches that are standing in front of Wilder right now.

Hearn is talking about wanting to make fights between Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, Dillian Whyte and Kubrat Pulev.

Joshua’s next fight already being planned

“I think the more realistic thing is we deal with one of our mandatory’s, which could be Usyk,” said Hearn about Joshua. “It could be [Kubrat] Pulev. It could be Tyson Fury. We know Wilder has his fight locked in [against Luis Ortiz]. Fury has already announced that he’s going to fight on September 28th. I can’t imagine with the money he’s making that he’s going to want a tough fight. So good for him,” said Hearn.

It’s not going to be Tyson Fury that Joshua faces in his next fight after Ruiz Jr. That’s more name dropping by Hearn. Fury isn’t going to accept the 60-40 offer by Hearn to fight Joshua. It’s common knowledge that Joshua will fight the 37-year-old Pulev next. Hearn won’t let Oleksandr Usyk take that fight with Joshua until after he’s had one fight at heavyweight.

“The money those guys [Wilder and Fury] are on. They’re not selling any tickets, so where is the money coming from? Showtimes not paying,” said Hearn. “They haven’t got any money. So they have to put it [Wilder vs. Ortiz] on pay-per-view. It’s only going to do 150,000 buys. That’s what happens sometimes. You try so hard to avoid things, that it ends up costing you a lot of money, when you should have just taken something and made a load of money, and gambled, because you may have won. Now you’re going to overpay him for [Dominic] Breazeale, and overpay for Ortiz. It’s madness,” said Hearn.

As you can see, Hearn is working hard in what appears to be an effort to create doubt among fans and with Team Wilder to get them to take the fight with Joshua. They would take the fight if it were a 50-50 deal. Wilder isn’t going to accept flat fee offers, and certainly not the 60-40 deal that Fury is being offered.

Hearn says Usyk an option for Joshua

”It is, but he’s no spring chicken, and he’s an outstanding fighter,” said Hearn about a fight between Usyk and Joshua. ”I don’t think he’s afraid to fight Joshua. Ideally, for him, we’d like to have him fight at heavyweight first, but if he’s afraid to lose the mandatory position, that’s another story,” said Hearn.

Joshua and Hearn will likely want to see Usyk fight first at heavyweight for them to gauge how difficult he is before they make the fight. You must realize that Joshua is important to Hearn. Joshua is the moneymaker for Matchroom Boxing. Hearn isn’t going to let Joshua walk the plank by fighting Usyk if he’s not certain it’s a sure thing win. If Usyk beats Joshua, the gravy train could end for Hearn.