Smackdown
FURY v WILDER UNDER THREAT FROM £12M WRESTLING DEAL
TYSON FURY’S rematch of his epic world heavyweight title draw with Deontay Wilder is in serious doubt as he banks $15million (£11.9m) for his WWE debut in Saudi Arabia this month, with the prospect of even more for a second wrestling extravaganza in the new year.
Fury-Wilder II is scheduled for Las Vegas on February 22 but now the worry as to whether the Gypsy King’s gashed eye will heal in time is not the only question mark.
Asked if his switch to wrestling to face Braun Strowman on October 31 could impact the Wilder fight, Fury replied: ‘There’s a hell of a chance of that.’
Wrestling legend Brock Lesnar and former uFC champion Cain Velasquez meet on the same card in riyadh. Already there is talk of Fury meeting the winner next.
If so, his combined purses from two WWE fights would come close to the $50m he stands to accumulate from what I now understand to be not one but two contracted rematches with Wilder — February in Vegas and Wembley next summer.
Wilder, who has a rematch against Luis Ortiz on November 23, will not be surprised if Fury pulls out of their engagement. The second fight was delayed from this summer when Fury signed an $80m (£63m) uS TV contract with ESPN which included two warm-up fights in America.
If the Fury-Wilder return does fall by the wayside, the Bronze Bomber will seek to meet the winner of Anthony Joshua’s December rematch with Andy ruiz Jr, also in riyadh, to find the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
ruiz pulled off the upset of the century when he ripped all the other belts from Joshua in New York and Wilder expects him to repeat that shock knockout, saying: ‘I respect AJ but Andy’s got his number.’
A suspicion that ruiz may have ‘lost focus’ during his hectic celebration of becoming Mexico’s first world heavyweight champion has been dispelled by the publication of training camp pictures showing him dramatically trimmed down, along with him saying: ‘I’m a lot slimmer, even faster and punching with even more power.’
Fury appears to be veering towards pro wrestling. At the launch for the Strowman event, he revealed how seriously he is taking it. ‘I’ve been training at the WWE facility in Orlando. I was supposed to be resting while the eye mended but I’m excited about 385lb of Braun coming at me,’ he said. ‘Yeah, me against Wilder is the biggest fight in boxing but I’m not thinking about that now. I’m just enjoying my life and concentrating on WWE.’
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, was not told before the WWE announcement and said: ‘I’m not in favour of this and it does put the Wilder fight in jeopardy. But he’s a grown man who makes his own decisions. I hope it’s more a show than a fight.’