Ruling forces a title rematch
Arbitrator orders Fury-Wilder III in July in Vegas
LOS ANGELES — Tyson Fury freely acknowledges he doesn’t particularly want a third fight with Deontay Wilder next month. The British heavyweight champion was ordered into the bout by an arbitration judge when Wilder exercised the rematch clause in their contract.
After the boxers met faceto-face Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles for the first time since Fury violently beat Wilder in February 2020, it’s also extremely unclear why Wilder wanted to complete this trilogy.
Wilder refused to promote the championship fight that has been scheduled at his insistence for July 24 in Las Vegas. After reciting a short poem into the microphone, the formerly unbeaten WBC champion sat limply at the dais with headphones on, refusing to engage with the fight promoters or reporters.
“I don’t believe he’s mentally, physically or emotionally involved in this fight,” Fury (30-0-1) said of Wilder, who floored and nearly stopped him in their first bout in December 2018 before Fury rallied for a draw. “I think he’s doing it for the wrong reasons. When people do things for the wrong reasons, they always wind up getting hurt.”
When Wilder (42-1-1) was prodded into a staredown with Fury, the fighters locked eyes for 5½ motionless minutes until Wilder walked away. He again declined to answer questions, leaving Fury and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to do all the talking.
Arum could only think of one parallel in his long boxing career to Wilder’s silent performance: Muhammad Ali’s refusal to promote his first bout against Leon Spinks in February 1978. Spinks won a stunning decision over Ali, who apparently wouldn’t promote the bout because he felt it was too much of a mismatch.
Wilder’s taciturnity won’t affect some fans’ excitement for the conclusion to one of the most entertaining trilogies in recent heavyweight boxing history.
Furybeat Wilder decisively 16 months ago, and he was eager to take on fellow British champion Anthony Joshua this summer in the type of title unification fight that happens all too rarely in this fragmented sport. Wilder and his team delayed that showdown by insisting on a third fight and finding an arbitration judge to agree with them.