Tyson Fury Will Fight Someone in December, Just Not Deontay Wilder

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says he’s tired of waiting to fight Deontay Wilder, and will instead look for another fight this December.

Fury and Wilder have fought twice. The two battled to a draw in December 2018, before Fury won a rematch by technical knockout on Feb. 22.

Fury Tired of Waiting for Next Fight

At the time, Wilder signaled his intention to take advantage of a rematch clause in the contract for the second fight. Initially, the two planned to meet up in the ring again in July, but the pandemic and Wilder’s recovery from injury pushed that date to October. That date continued to be pushed back until Fury decided he couldn’t wait any longer.

“They asked me if I would agree to push it to December. I agreed to Dec. 19,” Fury told The Athletic. “Then they tried to change the date again into next year. I’ve been training. I’m ready. When they tried moving off Dec. 19 and pushing to next year, enough was enough.”

Organizers deemed the Dec. 19 date unsuitable due to conflicts with college football season. Several major conferences play to play their championship games on that date.

Fury now plans to fight in the UK on Dec. 5, according to sources cited by The Athletic. The heavyweight champion hasn’t announced an opponent for the fight yet.

Wilder’s team expressed disappointment in Fury’s decision, but didn’t rule out the possibility of a trilogy fight taking place in 2021.

“Deontay and I would like to have the next fight, as planned, against Fury,” Wilder representative Shelly Finkel told ESPN. “We’ll fight him any date, any place.”

Heavyweight Unification Bout Targeted

But Fury will likely aim for a heavyweight unification bout with Anthony Joshua, who currently holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF world titles. Joshua must first beat IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12 to make that bout a reality. If Fury and Joshua can meet for the undisputed heavyweight championship, the fight could become the biggest boxing event in UK history.

Top Rank Boxing CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes Fury, said that he was considering WBC ranked contenders Agit Kabayel, Efe Ajagba, and Oscar Rivas as potential challengers for the Dec. 5 fight. All three are also promoted by Top Rank.

Many sportsbooks have continuously posted odds on both Fury vs. Joshua and Fury vs. Wilder throughout 2020, in anticipation that Fury could face one or both opponents in the near future.

Oddsmakers consider Joshua the more dangerous opponent, but favor Fury in either matchup. Fury stands as a -186 favorite over Joshua (+150), according to BetMGM, while he rates as a -358 favorite over Wilder (+275).

Fury clearly agrees with that sentiment.

“I was looking forward to smashing Wilder again. A quick and easy fight,” Fury told The Athletic. “They don’t really want to fight the lineal heavyweight champion. They know how it ends. The world knows how it will end: with Wilder on his ass again.”