With an arbitrator ruling that Tyson Fury must face Deontay Wilder for a third time, and Wilder not wanting to take “step-aside” money for Fury to face Anthony Joshua in August — nor does anyone want to give it to him — Fury’s co-promoters at Top Rank are making a move.
Bob Arum has told Mark Kriegel that the company have reserved a July 24 date at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium for the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s official for that date or venue, mind you, but it’s an early idea, and an aggressive one, given that this would mean the fight would happen in about two months’ time.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) and Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO) both have been inactive since their Feb. 2020 rematch, which Fury won via dominant seventh round stoppage, taking the WBC title from Wilder.
As an aside, you really do get the feeling the Fury side really misplayed this whole thing, as Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, says he’d been assured from the other team that the Wilder issue would not be a problem, and that’s consistent with everything Bob Arum in particular had said for months. The decision from the judge took the Fury side by surprise, and maybe it shouldn’t have.
But either way, Fury-Wilder 3 appears to be happening. Fury wants to get it done with — the only other option is vacating the WBC belt — Wilder wants it, and it’s been ordered. If they can get it done for July or early August, and Joshua can fight in that same time frame, and both guys win — a lot of “ifs” here, yes — then Fury-Joshua can certainly be revisited for November or December.