A few weeks ago, the news broke that Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will not be meeting for a third time on December 19th. The trilogy fight was originally scheduled for July 18th and then was pushed back to a date in October and once more to December because of Wilder's surgery on his biceps and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Fury stopped Wilder in 7 rounds in February. They first met in 2018 when they battled to a draw in Los Angeles.
Fury was going to have a homecoming bout on December 5th in the United Kingdom, but on Sunday it was pushed back to 2021.
Wilder has started a legal action against Fury to enforce his rematch clause.
The legal fight has major implications in the heavyweight division - and the outcome may pave the way for a 2021 showdown between Fury, who holds the WBC and lineal heavyweight title and WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO champion Anthony Joshua which is one of the most anticipated fights in the sport.
BoxingScene.com recently caught up with world class trainer Kevin Barry to get his thoughts on the news. Barry is currently in New Zealand where he is training his charge, former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, for his December 11th clash against domestic rival Junior Fa.
Parker is good friends with Fury and the two have spent time together while training together in Las Vegas. Barry is also very familiar with Joshua, having been in Parker's corner when he suffered his first career loss to the Brit in 2018.
"With the Fury versus Wilder trilogy fight now off the immediate schedule - it has opened up other options at the top of the heavyweight rankings. Wilder has made changes to his long time team and delaying the third fight with Fury will give the new team more time to functionally gel before fighting again. I thought that Mark Breland had done a good job in developing Wilder's right hand and getting him to control distance better," Barry told BoxingScene.com.
"I also applaud the choice of (Wilder head trainer) Jay Deas bringing in Malik Scott in a more senior coaching role. Malik is a real boxing guy with a good boxing mind and he looks to have a good future ahead of him as a coach. With Fury not fighting Wilder now it will open up a pair of mega fights with Anthony Joshua in 2021. In the recent landscape, Fury versus Joshua is the most compelling and biggest draw in world boxing."
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