Promoter Eddie Hearn was shocked at the recent news that Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury would not come together for a media tour to promote their scheduled rematch.
Wilder will defend his title against Fury for a second time on February 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The bout, which took place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, saw Wilder and Fury battle for a controversial twelve round split draw.
"I wish they were doing a media tour. Those two characters, doesn’t matter how much it costs – get it on," Hearn told IFL TV. "I wonder whether Wilder doesn’t want to be around Fury. If I was Fury I would have insisted on it.
"It’s lazy. Of course they need to do a press tour. You’re telling me for a fight of that magnitude you’re not going to do a media tour? What’s all that about. I don’t understand it."
Wilder and Fury have been making appearances during high profile events on ESPN and FOX, to promote their fight. The two networks are coming together to distribute the pay-per-view.
Hearn believes the lack of a media tour will take away an advantage for Fury.
"One of the ways Fury wins the fight is by doing the media tour and getting in Wilder’s head. It’s a disadvantage for Tyson Fury not to have the media tour," Hearn said.
As far as the UK is concerned, there is a bidding war between BT Sport and Sky Sports for the domestic pay-per-view rights.
BT Sport, due to their deal with Fury, can secure the rights if they match a lucrative offer received from Sky.
"Luckily Bob Arum’s got a bigger mouth than me, so he’s told the world what’s happened. [So to quote] Bob Arum, 'we’ve had a big offer from Sky but BT have the right to match it.' BT have had to put on all these drab fights from Fury and now they get the big one and they don’t even have it. Yes, an offer has been made for Sky. It’s a substantial offer. BT are in an awkward position because they’ve got to match the offer and their platform says they can’t deliver those kind of numbers," Hearn said.