The white towel flew into the ring, mercifully ending the seven-round beating Tyson Fury laid on Deontay Wilder in their February rematch for the lineal heavyweight championship.
Wilder’s face was battered and covered in blood that spewed from his left ear. He didn’t produce a single memorable moment in a fight that was viewed as a toss-up entering the night, a far cry from the first meeting that ended in a draw. In that December 2018 bout, Wilder was outboxed for large stretches of the fight but delivered two devastating knockdowns.
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He might not have been competitive, but that was OK. Wilder still had another chance at redemption. The contract contained a rematch clause, and Wilder quickly exercised it, guaranteeing him a third crack at Fury. But after a lengthy back-and-forth that has spanned half of a year, Fury is done waiting.
There won’t be a trilogy bout with Wilder — at least not next.
“The Gypsy King” told The Athletic on Monday that he was “moving on” from a third fight with Wilder after organizers tried shifting the fight from Dec. 19. Wishing to stay active and also pursue a mega clash with fellow UK heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua next year, plans are underway for Fury to return Dec. 5 in London in a homecoming fight.
“I was looking forward to smashing Wilder again. A quick and easy fight,” Fury said. “But Wilder and his team were messing around with the date.
“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. … Let him win a few fights and then I’m happy to knock him out again.”
And just like that, one of the biggest matchups on the 2020 schedule has been erased.
Even if the second meeting between Wilder and Fury wasn’t competitive, the third fight, pegged for Dec. 19, still promised to be a massive event. These are two of the biggest stars in the sport, and with Wilder’s destructive right hand, you can never truly count him out, 50-pound costume be damned.
Who can forget just how close Wilder came to knocking out Fury in the first fight before the Englishman shockingly sprung up to beat the referee’s count in the final round?
Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel, who guided the careers of heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Wladimir Klitsckho, isn’t throwing in the towel just yet.
He told The Athletic that he doesn’t agree with Top Rank’s interpretation of the contract; chairman Bob Arum claims the rematch clause expired.
“I spoke to Deontay (on Monday) night, all Deontay wants is to fight Fury,” Finkel said. “He’ll fight him any time, any place. He’s disappointed. We’ll see what happens in the next day or so.”
Fury was intent on fighting Wilder, too. The trilogy meeting was originally set for July 18 before Wilder cited injury; the contract allowed for a 90-day delay in that case. Then the fight was slated for Oct. 3 before it became clear the coronavirus was here to stay.
When they clashed last February at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the event generated nearly $17 million at the gate. Without fans, it would be impossible to satisfy the lucrative purses each fighter was due. Fury earned approximately $30 million for the second fight. The fighters agreed to split revenue evenly for the second fight with the winner earning 60 percent in the return bout. The champion’s side is typically the lead promoter, and that meant Top Rank would be leading the charge on the third meeting.
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Even though the fight was now mandated to take place by Oct. 18, Fury agreed to delay it until Dec. 19. Then disaster struck.
With the college football season unexpectedly rolling forward, Dec. 19 was now packed with six college football conference championship contents and another two NFL games, sporting events that would be spread across ESPN and FOX, the two networks set to collaborate on another Fury-Wilder PPV. The networks both nixed the date.
By this juncture, there were few viable dates to hold the fight in 2020. Errol Spence Jr., and Danny Garcia will fight on FOX PPV on Dec. 5. One week later, Top Rank is promoting a fight in Las Vegas between Miguel Berchelt and Oscar Valdez, and Allegiant Stadium wasn’t available on Dec. 12 anyway. There’s also a UFC PPV that night.
The last Saturday of December is the 26th, the day after Christmas. Arum wasn’t too keen on that date.
“Try figuring out a date for this. You can’t do it,” Arum told The Athletic. “Dec. 26 was mentioned by Shelly … that’s nuts! How many high rollers are going to miss their Christmas to come in here for a fight?”
Arum said Finkel also threw out New Year’s Eve, but Top Rank felt it wasn’t possible due to all the casino parties and the conflict of a planned UFC PPV.
The hall of fame promoter suggested late January or February and Fury said, “Absolutely not. I want to fight in December in England instead and then I want to fight Joshua if he beats (Kubrat) Pulev.’”
A Friday deadline imposed by Fury’s side to find a date this year wasn’t met, and that was it. He was moving on.
“There doesn’t have to be a third fight with Wilder. The contract’s expired … there’s no contract past October. Fury is free to walk away,” Arum said. “He agreed to Las Vegas on Dec. 19 and I talked to him about coming out right after (this week’s) Lomachenko-Lopez fight. We had the sparring partners all set up – Jared Anderson, Efe Ajagba, Guido Vianello. But now the contract’s expired. Believe me, it was all handled in good faith. We had it all planned for Dec. 19.
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“The Raiders play in there (Allegiant Stadium) on Dec. 17, and we were going to turn it around quickly. We expected 10,000 to 15,000 fans with tickets (ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 each) bought by the casinos for their customers. That would’ve got us to $15 million (in live gate revenue).”
Another option that was explored: holding the fight in the Middle East. After all, Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua 2 landed in Saudi Arabia after more than $60 million was guaranteed.
When the Middle East opportunity fell through, it seemed destined that the fight wouldn’t be held in 2020. And now it’s unclear if it will ever happen at all as Fury turns his attention to Joshua.
“The PBC guys could’ve had a longer (window to make the third fight), but they didn’t want it because they assumed they would win (the rematch),” Arum observed. “So we’re in this box, and Fury knows it … so go on to the Joshua fight. Maybe two Joshua fights. I think there’s a lot of money to be made there.”
This isn’t the first time a fight between Fury and Wilder fell apart.
After the thrilling December 2018 bout that resulted in a draw, Finkel and Premier Boxing Champions head Al Haymon engaged in negotiations with promoter Frank Warren regarding a rematch that would be staged May 18, 2019.
The deal was close to being completed when Fury shocked the boxing industry by signing with Top Rank. Now aligned with ESPN, the company shoved the rematch aside and laid out a plan to build Fury into a star stateside before pursuing the second Wilder fight.
After Wilder obliterated Dominic Breazeale in the first round of a May 2019 fight, Top Rank and PBC struck a deal for two Wilder-Fury fights. But first, there would be a few interim bouts. Of course there would be.
Fury easily dispensed with Tom Schwarz in his ESPN debut and in the fall battled a nasty gash to outpoint Otto Wallin. Then in November, Wilder scored a spectacular knockout of Luis Ortiz. The rematch was on.
The Bronze Bomber was installed as a slight favorite but wasn’t remotely competitive. He was dropped twice before assistant trainer Mark Breland stopped the fight. Wilder was furious with his longtime coach and recently dismissed him from the team.
Where Wilder goes from here is unclear as Finkel fights the seemingly inevitable behind the scenes.
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Many in the boxing industry believed the 34-year-old would be better served by rebuilding himself before meeting Fury again anyway. Now, he’ll have that chance.
There’s a scenario where Wilder comes back in a confidence-building bout while Ruiz Jr., who upset Joshua last year to win the heavyweight title, returns from his own one-sided rematch defeat against Chris Arreola. Both Wilder and Ruiz are in the PBC stable. Who says no to a clash between the former heavyweight champions next year? It’s certainly one of the best fights that can be made in boxing, and it features two of the sport’s biggest stars.
In the meantime, Fury will look to secure an opponent for Dec. 5 in London and one week after, Joshua is slated to defend his unified championship against Pulev. If both win as expected, this is — in theory — an easy deal to make.
Earlier this year, Fury and Joshua agreed that if a deal can be completed for two fights in 2021, they would split the revenue evenly in the first meeting with the winner garnering 60 percent in the rematch. Sound familiar?
Joshua isn’t signed with DAZN, so unless he strikes a deal with the platform between now and then, Fury-Joshua could conceivably be held in Spring 2021 on ESPN Pay-Per-View.
Assuming a deal is closed, Wilder will be left to wait, wondering what could have been and asking himself how much money he lost by not fighting Fury a third time. Joshua is all too familiar with waiting and wondering after he was stunned by Ruiz at the Garden days after Wilder and Fury agreed to a two-fight deal.
Fury, on the other hand, wasn’t willing to wait any longer.
The Athletic’s Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.
(Top photo: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)