By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury stubbornly says he WON’T be paying former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder a huge step aside payment so that he can face IBF/WBA/WBO champion, Anthony Joshua.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) says he’d first give Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) another “battering” and then look to face Joshua in an undisputed heavyweight championship with all four straps on the line.
Earlier today, it was reported that Wilder might step aside if he were given $10 million. Fury says he wouldn’t even give Deontay $2 million to step aside, which makes sense. There might not be the huge money that was initially believed for the Joshua vs. Fury fight because of the global pandemic.
It’s possible that fewer boxing fans might be willing to attend the event, and it could generate fewer pay-per-view buys because people are out of work.
Fury’s plans
- Trilogy with Deontay Wilder
- Anthony Joshua fight for the undisputed championship
- Defend the four belts against the top contenders in the division
- Continue to fight beyond his last two-matches on his contract with Top Rank
The win over Wilder last February has Fury believing he can beat ‘The Bronze Bomber’ again with little problems. Fury sees the Wilder fight as a slam dunk victory for him already, and he forgets some of the right-hand missiles from him that just narrowly missed his chin.
Had Wilder’s right-hand bombs landed in the first three rounds, there’s no question that Fury would have been asleep like he was in the 12th round of their first encounter in 2018. What makes Wilder’s job more manageable in the trilogy clash is the knowledge that Fury, drunk on his success from the second fight, will go straight at him foolishly.
History has shown us that when a weaker force attacks the more powerful army, they lose nine times out of ten. What happens then is the more powerful army wipes out the inferior power. It might be better for Fury to meet Wilder’s asking price for a step aside payment, be it $10 million or whatever he wants.
If the Joshua-Fury fight is genuinely the biggest match in boxing history, then there should be more than enough cash to pay Wilder what he wants for him to step aside.
Wilder will be ready for Fury in when they face other this year, and you can bet that he’s not going to be making the same mistakes as last time.
Tyson Fury won’t give Wilder a step aside payment
“We got the rematch on Wilder as well, and then we got the two AJ fights,” said Fury to Mark Wright’s social media site. “Wilder, I want to batter in a rematch. He’s got a rematch clause.
“He [Wilder] told some newspaper reporter that he wants $10 million to step aside, but I’m not paying him NO money to step aside. I’m going to retake his scalp.
“I’ll beat him in the ring, and that’s how I’ll get him out of the way,” Fury continued on his decision NOT to give Deontay a step aside fee. “I wouldn’t pay him $2 million to step aside. I’d rather give him another battering again.”
It’ll work out for Fury not to pay Wilder the $10 million step aside, but if Tyson loses that fight, he’s going to be trashed by the boxing world for not paying the dangerous American.
With all the money at stake for a Joshua-Fury fight, which some fans believe will be the biggest match in the history of the sport, Fury will be seen as a cheapskate for not paying Wilder to step aside. If the money is available for Fury to pay the dangerous Wilder to step out of the way, then Fury would be a fool not to give it to him.
Fury’s decision-making will be questioned by fans after the fact, as they play Monday morning quarterback in wondering why he didn’t give Wilder the step aside money.
What works in Wilder’s favor is there probably won’t be a referee that will give Fury a count if he’s knocked cold again like he was in the first fight.
Joshua is next for Fury after Wilder trilogy
“I’m going to take him [Wilder] out a third time, hopefully at the end of the year, and then we’re going to go into 2021 in the biggest fight in boxing history between two undefeated British heavyweights, me and AJ [Joshua], and then we’re going to battle it out for all the gold,” said Fury.
With another win over Wilder, it could plant ideas into Fury’s head that he should be the A-side in the negotiations with Joshua. If Fury prices himself out of the Joshua match, which is possible with his ego, then boxing won’t see those two battle it out.
Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, will want a 50-50 deal for the Fury clash at the minimum, but he might see himself as deserving a better slice of the pie. With two wins over Wilder, Fury will be coming into the negotiations with AJ in a strong position to ask for more than a 50% cut of the money pot.
It’s a mistake for Fury to count his chicks before they’ve hatched, as he could lose to a motivated Wilder in their third match. More than anything, the 6’7″ Wilder will want to avenge his humiliating seventh-round knockout loss to Fury from last February.
Deontay is going to be looking to separate the 31-year-old Fury from his senses with every mighty swing or his right-hand, and it’s entirely possible he’ll send him down for the count this time.
Fury views himself as the last man standing
“There used to be a three-headed monster in this division. It was me, Wilder and Joshua,” said Fury. “And then [Andy] Ruiz knocked out Joshua and burst that bubble and broke him.
“And then I broke ‘The Bronze Bomber,’ and then three became two, and then two became one.
“Now I’m a standalone soldier. They all need to come through me now, and it’s not an easy task because I guard the gate,” said Fury.
‘The Gypsy King’ Fury is getting a little ahead of himself by talking about himself as the last man standing in the heavyweight division. For Fury to be ‘The Guy,’ he’ll need to beat not only Wilder and Joshua but also at least ten other quality heavyweights before he can brag that he’s the best.
Of course, knowing Fury, that won’t stop him from proclaiming himself as the number one heavyweight on the planet if he beats Wilder and Joshua. The reality is that Fury will need to do a heck of a lot more than beating Wilder and Joshua for him to be viewed as the top dog in the world by the casual boxing fans, who will need more proof.
Fury will need to beat all of these guys to be seen as #1:
- Filip Hrgovic
- Jarrell Miller
- Anthony Joshua
- Deontay Wilder
- Andy Ruiz, Jr.
- Luis Ortiz
- Daniel Dubois
- Joe Joyce
- Dillian Whyte
- Kubrat Pulev
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Joseph Parker
- Michael Hunter
- Alexander Povetkin
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