By Kenneth Friedman: The trilogy match between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder WON’T be taking place on July 18 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Gypsy King’s promoter Bob Arum. The fight will still take place next but it won’t be on the 18th of July as previously planned by the promoters.
The plan is to have the Fury-Wilder 3 contest to take place in the Fall, provided that the coronavirus has disappeared by then. Arum has been in contact with Wilder’s manager Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions about this, so he knows what’s happening. It’s a bad time for Fury and Wilder to be attempting to fight each other with the sport having been shut down due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Arum rules out Fury vs. Wilder trilogy taking place in July
He told Dan Rafael of ESPN that the Wilder vs. Fury 3 fight won’t be taking place on July 18 as previously planned. It’s uncertain when the third contest between the two heavyweights will take place now that the COVID 19 pandemic ha stopped boxing.
It’s not surprising that Arum is saying the Fury-Wilder 3 fight won’t be taking place on July 18. With the danger of fans contracting the coronavirus at live events being so high, it would be too risky right now to stage that fight. Unless Top Rank and Wilder’s management are able to stage the third fight behind closed doors, we may not see the match take place for a while.
With travel restrictions in between, the UK boxing fans wouldn’t be able to make the trip to the U.S to see the fight.
“Clearly not,” Arum said to ESPN.com about the previously scheduled July 18th date for the Fury vs. Wilder trilogy. “We don’t even know if the MGM will even be open by then. How are you going to sell tickets? It’s absolutely ridiculous to say the fight is on when the Brits can’t even get there.”
Rescheduling of the third fight is up in the air
It would be a mistake for Arum and Haymon to hastily reschedule the Fury vs. Wilder fight now. With everything still uncertain, it doesn’t make sense to reschedule the fight until things become more clear on the coronavirus situation. U.S President Donald Trump reportedly would like the country to be back up and running by April 12, but that doesn’t mean that boxing events will be taking place at that time.
If Fury’s British boxing fan were unable to make the trip to the U.S support him, he would have to face Wilder alone. Fury had a lot of his fans present for his first two fights with Wilder in the U.S. Going into the third fight without his fellow Brits present might make it difficult for him. That’s not to say that Fury won’t win the third fight because he’ll surely be a big favorite with the odds-makers.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) wiped out Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) in stopping him in the 7th round in their rematch n February 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wilder was dropped twice in the fight and was taking punishment at the time that his trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the 7th round.
It was never even slightly competitive. Wilder had nothing to keep the 273 lb Fury off of him, and he was walked down and punished from start to the bitter finish.
Fights still being postponed
Right now there are no fights taking place, and all the scheduled bouts for May and June are viewed as likely being postponed. It’s not good for Fury and Wilder, and definitely not for IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. He has a fight scheduled for June 20 against Kubrat Pulev.
Given the lack of interest from boxing fans in the third Fury vs. Wilder fight, it’s better than the contest be prolonged until later this year. That’s not good for the people that wanted to see Joshua and Fury face each other, but these are unusual circumstances that we’re experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic.
