Deontay Wilder: record, next fight and profile →
Former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder is eliminating every person that he views as a "snake" from his camp. Wilder suffered the first defeat of his pro career back in February, when he went down twice and was stopped in the seventh round by Tyson Fury at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Frank Warren, co-promoter for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has denied some of the rumors that his team offered a step-aside deal to Deontay Wilder. Fury is contracted to face Wilder in a trilogy fight, which is expected to happen by the end of the year.
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.
Deontay Wilder doesn’t know why Tyson Fury or anyone else would be surprised he wants to fight Fury a third time. Fury told talkSport last week that he didn’t think Wilder would take the third fight he was contractually owed because their rematch was so one-sided. The unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion claims Wilder only agreed to box him again because Wilder will earn so much money to do it.
Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte sees no reason for Deontay Wilder to get another crack at Tyson Fury. The two heavyweights first collided back in December 2018, which saw Fury go down twice and the fight concluded in a controversial twelve round split draw.
Dillian Whyte wants Tyson Fury to make his first WBC heavyweight title defense against him if Deontay Wilder’s recovery from biceps surgery further delays their third fight. England’s Fury is tentatively scheduled to battle Wilder on October 3 at an undetermined venue. Wilder recently revealed that he had surgery to repair a torn left biceps, an injury he suffered during his seventh-round, technical-knockout defeat to Fury on February 22 in Las Vegas.
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman believes there is less pressure on Deontay Wilder, 34-years-old, as he heads to the trilogy fight with Tyson Fury. The trilogy fight was scheduled for July 18, but it was quickly pushed back to the target month of October - due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bob Arum believed the rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder would be a raging commercial success with the co-promotion of ESPN and Fox networks and yield upward of 2 million pay per view purchases. The final tally after Fury’s one sided beating of Wilder yielded 800,000 PPV buys.
After what Dominic Breazeale witnessed February 22, the heavyweight contender cannot see the third Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight unfolding more favorably for Wilder. In fact, Breazeale wouldn’t be surprised if Fury defeats Wilder even easier in their third fight. England’s Fury, who beat Wilder by seventh-round technical knockout in their rematch, is tentatively set to face Wilder again October 3 at an undetermined venue.
If former two-division champion and current Showtime boxing analyst Paulie Malignaggi were to wear his prognosticator hat, he believes Tyson Fury will always end up on the winning column against archrival Deontay Wilder.