By Jeff Aronow: Manager David Higgins wants Deontay Wilder to do the right thing and step aside so that Tyson Fury can face IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in an undisputed championship later this year. Higgins.
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) has already executed his rematch clause for his trilogy fight against Fury, which potentially could take place in July depending on the coronavirus.
Wilder isn’t about to bend to the pressure from people in the boxing world to step aside to let the Joshua vs. Fury fight take place. From Wilder’s perspective, his humiliating loss to Fury was so bad that he literally can’t walk away from the defeat.
Each month that goes by without Wilder having avenged his loss to Fury, it hurts his popularity. People like Higgins want Wilder to step aside, but they’re not walking around in his shoes.
Wilder should step aside to let Joshua fight Fury
“If Deontay Wilder pulls the trigger on a third fight, it’s disrespecting every boxing fan in the world,” said promoter David Higgins to Fighthub, who wants Fury to face Anthony Joshua next. “Everyone wants to see Fury-Joshua, so Deontay should step aside and be given step aside money.
“He can go fight the winner. That would be the dignified thing to do. He’s forcing a fight that the world doesn’t want to see. Everyone wants to see an undisputed champion,” said Higgins.
The undisputed heavyweight championship between Joshua and Fury isn’t going to happen right away regardless of whether Wilder chooses to step aside. Joshua has his IBF mandatory defense against Kubrat Pulev that is scheduled for June 20. That could get pushed back to July 25 or later. With Wilder-Fury 3 supposed to be taking place in July, it’s not a big deal for Wilder to be taking that fight. Fury won’t be able to fight Joshua next.
Higgins: Wilder is being selfishÂ
“So it would be a selfish decision for Wilder to force a rematch. Fury at his best would demolish Joshua. Fury has better footwork, better courage, better heart, and better skills. He’ll toy with Joshua if he shows up like he did the other night.
“The reality is Tyson Fury demolished Deontay Wilder, bullied him, and made him look like a middleweight. apparently, he’s [Wilder about his ring-walk uniform wearing him out] serious and it could go down as one of the most ridiculous excuses in sport. The custom didn’t cost him the fight, but to claim as much is embarrassing,” said Higgins.
The money that Wilder can make in the third fight with Fury is obviously too much of an attraction for him to wash his hands of the fight, and move on. Assuming that Wilder did listen to Higgins and let Fury walk away without fighting him again, he’d make less money fighting one of the contenders, and he might lose. It doesn’t make sense for Wilder not to fight Fury right away.
If this was Joseph Parker who had lost to Fury by a 7th round knockout, it would be interesting to see what Higgins’ stance would be about a third fight. Would he be agreeable to let Parker walk away and have Fury fight Joshua or would he insist on him executing his rematch clause in the contract?
I think it comes down to dollars and sense. The money that Wilder can make fighting Fury is way too good for him to forget about taking the fight again. If Joshua beats Fury, then a third fight between Wilder and Tyson won’t have as much meaning. Fury’s reputation will have been diminished by that point.
