By Tim Royner: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are currently in negotiations to put together a fight in Saudi Arabia in December. Mike Coppinger is reporting the news on talks taking place between WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) and IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs).
For the fight Fury-Joshua fight to take place, it would require that Deontay Wilder and Kubrat Pulev both agree to a step aside. Fury is contractually obligated to face Wilder next in a trilogy match, whereas Joshua must defend against IBF mandatory Pulev. Wilder and Pulev will both need to agree to step aside, and they would need to be paid extra money.
Wilder coming off biceps surgery
One reason why Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) could potentially agree to step aside is because of his recent bicep surgery and his right arm. Wilder suffered the injury in his rematch with Fury on February 22, and he had surgery shortly after that. Though Wilder stated that he thinks he can start training again in May, but he may need more time.
Fury’s promoter Bob Arum is now talking about moving the Fury-Wilder III fight to November or December. It’s unclear whether Arum is moving the fight due to Wilder’s surgery.
Long way away. Wilder & Kubrat Pulev need to separately agree to step aside since they have contractual rights to bouts with Fury and Joshua, respectively. Then, sides for Fury and A.J., would need to strike a deal. Pandemic looms over this all, of course. @MarkKriegel first https://t.co/kpuFB6OZMJ
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) April 30, 2020
It would be a wise move on the 34-year-old Wilder’s part for him to step aside so that he can have more time to rehab his bicep, and perhaps get a confidence booster tuneup fight in between. In the meantime, Wilder could watch the Joshua vs. Fury fight and take notes on the flaws the two fighters show.
Many boxing fans believe that Joshua matches up better with Fury than Wilder does because of his size, power, and inside fighting skills. The 6’9″ Fury will have more problems attempting to bully the 245-pound Joshua on the inside compared to the 231-lb Wilder.
What we saw of Wilder in the second Fury fight was he didn’t carry his weight effectively. In the first fight with Fury, Wilder weighed a trim 212 pounds, and he fought better at that weight.
Tuneup fight needed for Wilder
If Wilder can get a tuneup fight in, he can work on some things that he can use against the winner of the Joshua vs. Fury fight. It’s widely believed that Wilder needs more time to distance himself from his loss to Fury, and slowly digest what happened to him that night.
Wilder needs to make sense of what took place and come back with a better game plan to avoid suffering the same fate.
The whole world wants to see Fury and Joshua fight, and fans would view Wilder as being the one that’s preventing the match from happening. Wilder should clear out of the way so that the fans can see the fight that they want to.
