By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Eddie Hearn says he has serious doubts that the October 9th trilogy match between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will occur.
Hearn isn’t saying HOW he knows the Fury – Wilder III fight won’t be taking place, but he reminds the viewers that he knew their previously scheduled match on July 24th wouldn’t happen.
It could be a bird told Hearn the Fury-Wilder fight isn’t happening, and he’s not hiding his glee over the news.
The way Hearn is talking, he sounds like he has inside information on the contest Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) and Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs).
If Hearn turns out to be correct, it’s going to be a huge letdown for the boxing world, as the fans have been waiting for a year and a half to see the trilogy since Fury destroyed Wilder last year in February 2020 in seven rounds.
Despite that great win, Fury, 33, has been dragging his feet on giving Wilder in the contractually bound rematch, seeming as if he doesn’t want to face him a third time.
Hearn predicts Fury vs. Wilder III WON’T happen
“I don’t think it’ll happen,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV on the Fury vs. Wilder 3 fight on October 9th. “I said last time it wouldn’t happen, and it didn’t happen. If someone said to you, are you 100 percent sure Wilder-Fury will happen on October 9th, what would you say?” said Hearn.
If the fight fails to happen on October 9th due to something on Fury’s part holding up the fight, the World Boxing Council has got to move forward to strip him of his WBC heavyweight title due to inactivity.
Naturally, Hearn would be the one to benefit from Fury being stripped of his WBC title, as it would be given to his Matchroom Boxing stable fighter Dillian Whyte, who holds the interim WBC title and is waiting in line for his mandated title shot as the mandatory to Fury.
It won’t be such a big deal if Fury is stripped of his belt by the sanctioning body and given the WBC ‘Champion in Recess’ designation because he could always fight Whyte at a later date to reclaim his heavyweight title, provided he beats Wilder at some point in the future.
If Fury pulls out of the Wilder fight for the October 9th date, it’s unclear when the match would be rescheduled. That would depend on WHY Fury pulls out.
If it’s another illness, it’s possible the fight could be postponed to November or December. But if Fury is injured, we might be talking about the fight being moved to 2022, which would be bad.
It will be a good move for boxing if Fury is stripped of his WBC title because the WBC has to keep that title in play. If Fury wants to enjoy his life outside of the ring, so be it, but if he can’t defend his WBC title on an annual basis, he’s got to move over and let someone else take charge of the belt, be it Whyte or whoever.