Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have been the subject of legal battles for months and on Monday, May 17 the court ruled that Fury must face Wilder for a third time before September 15th, leaving the Fury-Joshua fight up in the air.
It was a clause in the Fury-Wilder agreement that specified that the losing party has the right to request a third fight, which caused the arbitrator’s ruling to be in favor of Wilder’s request for a third one. Since the ruling, Anthony Joshua has called Tyson Fury a fraud and boxing fans worldwide have felt disappointment in the possible dissolution of a fight between Fury and Joshua.
There’s been quite a lot of hype and excitement that surrounds the potential Fury and AJ matchup. The narrative of courts, legalities, and boxing organizations and promotions getting in the way of big fights is certainly not a new one. But it doesn’t get any less discouraging when it prevents desired fights from being made. In fighting Joshua, Fury would get the opportunity to unify. That opportunity that was once imminent is now put further on hold with the third meeting between Fury and Wilder now officially confirmed.
Considering how in the last fight Wilder got dismantled by Fury with a knockdown that ultimately handed him his first professional loss, it’s understandable that he seeks redemption in a third fight. However, a fight between AJ and Fury is what boxing wants to see and situations like this frustrate the sports’ good intentions and prevent the best fights from being made.
TalkSPORTS’s Michael Benson tweeted a quote from Bob Arum on the situation that said, “We’re not paying Wilder to step aside. It’s better to get rid of him. We can make Fury vs AJ for November or December.” According to Arum a fight between AJ and Fury is still possible. Arum previously revealed that the third fight between Fury and Wilder could take place in July in Vegas, but we are yet to see a set date and venue. As for Joshua, it’s possible that there could be a fight between him and Alexander Usyk. Negotiations for that matchup are currently underway as we patiently wait for confirmed dates.
