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Bob Arum has plenty of reasons to have enjoyed how things turned out in the rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder earlier this year.
What has the Hall of Fame promoter eagerly anticipating the third fight, however, has less to do with his own fighter’s success but replicating everything that went into the previous event.
As was the case with the rematch, part three between the pair of heavyweight behemoths will headline a Pay-Per-View show presented in unison by ESPN and Fox Sports. The cable sports giants joined forces for the heavyweight championship sequel, which took place this past February live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fury claimed a one-sided 7th round knockout and the lineal heavyweight championship atop an event which was well-received by the general public. Additionally, it was constant harmony between all parties involved which was reflected in pre-fight and fight-night coverage and which resonated with viewers.
“I think it was an example of entities working together with the same goal, putting aside any time of animosity,” Arum told Top Rank’s Crystina Poncher in an interview as part of the Catching Up With Crystina series on the company’s YouTube channel. “Working as colleagues and thoroughly enjoying the promotion.
“Obviously, if we hadn’t had this coronavirus, we would probably be talking about additional events that were on the schedule where would be joint promotions and maybe joint telecasts. Once we resume, maybe we will do that again.”
Along with ESPN and Fox Sports joining forces for a boxing event for the first time, it was also a reunion between Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)—two entities which historically have not always worked well together. Top Rank signed England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs) last February, while Alabama’s Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs) has been with adviser Al Haymon (who created PBC) since turning pro in 2008.
What the two sides have done well in the past, however, is generate money. They were forced to work together for what became the highest grossing boxing event in history, with Floyd Mayweather’s 12-round win over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015—also at MGM Grand—destroying box office records which remain the benchmark to this day.
The PPV event was presented by HBO and Showtime, serving as just the second time they worked together on such on occasion—the previous time also setting records, as was the case with Lennox Lewis’ 8th round knockout of Mike Tyson in February 2002.
The rematch between Fury and Wilder wasn’t quite as lucrative but still a success in several ways. Their clash produced a live gate of nearly $17 million, along with generating well north of $60 million in PPV revenue. More importantly. It provided room for growth along with an already existing template that so clearly worked out on nearly every level.
All that’s left to do is secure a date for part three. Such an event was originally tabbed to take place on July 18—which fell within the parameters of the contract clause which Wilder exercised to enforce a third fight. The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic pushed back those plans to October 3, although that date remains in question given that few places in the world have yet to reopen its economy, much less providing a healthy and safe pathway to return to mass gatherings.
Once that part is sorted out, moving forward with the big event will be the easy part.
“One reason I’m confident is because we’ve been talking about Fury-Wilder III and it’s the same collegial conversation that we had all through the promotion of the second fight,” Arum notes.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox