Tyson Fury cites Showtime ‘robbery’ as reason for halting rematch with Deontay Wilder

Of course many fans were looking forward to an anticipated rematch between heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, but we now know that won’t be happening in the short term. And although Fury’s new co-promoter Bob Arum suggests that he thinks that marinating the rematch will only make it a bigger commercial event, there’s still plenty of questions about whether or not there will ever be a sequel.

So while Deontay Wilder has been ridiculing Fury for backing out of their immediate rematch when it heavily reported to be on the cusp of being finalized, Fury hits back by saying he thought better of returning to Showtime where he believes he was robbed in their first meeting.

“The world knows I won the fight as did you and your team,” pointed out Fury. “Fool me once, shame on you but you won’t fool me twice.

“Why would I go get robbed again on Showtime. My team offered to do you a favour, pay you better and build your name. Albeit as my workman.”

The offer Fury’s team made to Wilder for a rematch was said to be a multi-fight deal that included an interim fight for both men, although Wilder’s co-manager Shelly Finkel mentioned that it essentially entailed signing Wilder over to Top Rank/ESPN — a point Arum disputes.

But regardless of whichever side you may believe, the truth of the matter is that while we were supposed to be in the midst of a heavyweight renaissance, we now have the three top heavyweights aligned with different promoters on different platforms. And knowing how the business of boxing works more often than not, there’s no real reason to feel optimistic that we’ll see the fights we want anytime soon.