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Frank Warren hopes the third Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight actually occurs October 3, as planned.
But based on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted government guidelines for large gatherings and economies worldwide, Warren wouldn’t be surprised if their third heavyweight championship match doesn’t take place until sometime in 2021. England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) is contractually obligated to give Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) a chance to win back his WBC title, but that’s about all Fury’s co-promoter can say with any certainty until the coronavirus crisis is over.
“To be quite honest, it’s all moot at the moment,” Warren told IFL TV for an interview posted recently to its YouTube channel. “Who knows when we’re gonna get that on, even this year? Because it’s all about what goes on in Vegas. The fight is gonna take place in the [United] States, and obviously it seems Vegas would be the most appropriate place. And at the moment, boxing’s banned there. And who knows when that banned is gonna be lifted? And it’s certainly not a fight that can go on behind closed doors.”
Warren will promote cards in England without fans in attendance once he gets clearance from the British government. That’s just not an option for an expensive event like Fury-Wilder III.
The card headlined by their rematch generated nearly $17 million in ticket sales February 22 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. That figure established a Nevada record for gate revenue from a heavyweight fight, as it eclipsed the slightly lower live gate for the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch in November 1999 at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
“Impossible,” Warren said regarding staging Fury-Wilder III without fans. “Impossible. Not for the monies that the boxers want. It’s an impossibility. … It’s not financially viable for that to happen.”
Fury defeated Wilder by seventh-round technical knockout in their rematch two months ago to win the WBC title.
The former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion knocked down Wilder with a right to his head in the third round. Fury sent Wilder to the canvas again with a left to his body during the fifth round.
Referee Kenny Bayless stopped their fight 1:39 into the seventh round after Mark Breland, Wilder’s assistant trainer, threw in the towel. An exhausted Wilder was backed into a neutral corner, taking flush punches from Fury, when Breland determined he had seen enough.
Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, exercised his contractual clause for a third fight almost immediately after suffering his first professional defeat. It was tentatively scheduled for July 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, but it was postponed until October 3 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.