Deontay Wilder: record, next fight and profile →
If you’ve gotten to this point and aren’t happy, it’s your own fault. You should have seen it coming last year. In keeping with tradition in this Tuesday morning space, we proactively greet the New Year with a preview of stories other boxing scribes will be reacting to about 12 months from now.
IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua strongly feels that a unification with Deontay Wilder should take place in the UK - where he believes it would draw a lot more fans. Wilder defends his WBC world title on February 22nd, in a rematch with Tyson Fury, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Joshua drew 90,000 fans to Wembley Stadium in London for his unification with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
Anthony Joshua should ignore his mandatory challengers and wait to face the winner of the February 22 clash between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, according to Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter. After regaining his WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia this month, Joshua was ordered by the WBO and IBF to face their mandatory challengers – Oleksandr Usyk and Kubrat Pulev respectively.
Frank Warren, co-promoter for heavyweight contender Tyson Fury, feels confident that his boxer will stop WBC world world champion Deontay Wilder in their anticipated rematch. The second fight takes place on February 22nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. They initially met in December 2018, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, with the contest resulting in a controversial twelve round split draw.
Former unified world champion Tyson Fury has already fired off several verbal bombs in the direction of Deontay Wilder. Fury and Wilder are scheduled to collide for the WBC heavyweight title on February 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The contest is a rematch of their December 2018 encounter, which ended in a controversial twelve round split draw at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Back on December 15, BoxingScene.com first reported that former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was in the process of replacing his head trainer, Ben Davison. A few hours later, Fury confirmed the report and announced that he hired trainer Sugarhill Steward, who is based in Detroit. Steward is the nephew of Hall of Fame coach Emanuel Steward.
Ahead of perhaps the most pivotal fight of his career, Tyson Fury decided it was time for a change—or in this case, a return to the way things once were. The unbeaten British heavyweight has begun to make the media rounds following the formal announcement of his rematch with undefeated titlist Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, 41KOs), which takes place February 22 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. News of part two comes shortly after Fury’s big reveal of having split with head trainer Ben Davison, with whom he’s worked for the past two years.
In the United States, the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch, which is scheduled for February 22 in Las Vegas, will be joint pay-per-view between Fox and ESPN. No UK broadcast agreement has been made yet. Sky Sports have made what was described as a “substantial” offer for the fight, although BT Sport will get the rights if they match Sky’s offer.
There will be no automatic third fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, although the loser of their clash on February 22 will be able to demand a straight return for a smaller cut of the purse.
The worst kept secret in boxing was finally revealed with the announcement of the rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury serving as a joint pay-per-view venture between ESPN+ and Fox Sports. What won’t be a secret is how Wilder and the Fox Sports team will interact.