Heavy rumors appeared on Wednesday that stated Deontay Wilder is being offered $10 million in order to step aside from his contracted third fight with the WBC heavyweight champion to allow Tyson Fury to take on Anthony Joshua.
It was back in February when Wilder suffered his first professional defeat to the hands of Fury who stopped him in the seventh round to claim the WBC title.
According to the Athletic, many promoters and insiders say there is no reason to even think about stepping aside right now due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“All of this kind of talk is ludicrous because nobody knows where anything stands. There’s too many open questions. If pro and college football, which are better financed than the poor boxing business, don’t know where they’re going, how would we?” a top promoter asked.
“To argue Wilder should step aside … for what? Where’s the money coming from? You can ask (Eddie) Hearn. He’ll tell you the same thing I’m saying, just in an English kind of way. What we’re all saying is nobody knows. Until there’s real money on the table, you can’t discuss any fight. You can’t discuss a (Terence) Crawford fight. You can’t discuss a (Manny) Pacquiao fight. You can’t discuss anything because nobody knows how much money will be available.”
“People are saying (Fury-Wilder 3) will do better or worse than 900,000 (buys). Better or worse? What are you talking about? How the fuck do we know with 30 million people out of work?” the executive asked. “Are fans going to use their unemployment checks to buy a fucking fight? We are in an area where we don’t know, and if you are a prudent and sane businessperson, you’re not going to gamble now on the results of pay-per-view or anything else until you know exactly what money you have.
“How can I project doing a fight based on pay-per-view revenue given the economic situation in the United States? Knowing people have traditionally bought a pay-per-view for a party with a lot of people in their house, sharing expenses. During the lockdown, you can’t do that. So nobody really knows where we are at. We have a president who doesn’t have a fucking clue. The medical experts haven’t seen anything like this. What happens if you schedule an event and the virus goes crazier in the fall or winter? Who’s going to put up money facing that type of contingency?”
England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) and Alabama’s Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) were tentatively scheduled to meet a third time July 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
That bout has since been moved toward the end of the year because of the coronavirus crisis.
Arum expects Fury-Wilder III to take place prior to Fury-Joshua.
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“Look, Deontay Wilder gave Fury two opportunities to fight for the title, and we don’t forget that,” Arum explained. “One, he selected Fury for the fight that was in Los Angeles [in December 2018]. And then after it was a draw – I thought Fury won, but they called it a draw – he signed on to give Fury a [second] shot, which was the fight in February in Las Vegas. We also have a contract with the Wilder people, which guarantees him a third fight. So, what we’re thinking is to do that fight. We’re making plans on how to do it. It would certainly not be until sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
“And we will do that fight because I think it’s a good fight, you have to allow Wilder the opportunity to come up with a plan to neutralize Fury, which he says he’s working on. And I think it’ll be a big attraction. If Fury wins that fight, and if Joshua has a fight with another fighter of mine, Kubrat Pulev, the Bulgarian, if Joshua wins that fight, then a Fury-Joshua fight would be delayed until next year.”
