WBC and LINEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is lined up for a third fight with ex-titlist Deontay Wilder, but the fight has yet to get a date as organizers have seemed intent on waiting until the event can have a live crowd, either in Las Vegas or maybe outside the United States.
The 32-year-old Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) seems to be growing a bit impatient, though, Tweeting at Wilder that he won’t wait forever for the fight:
.@bronzebomber where you at mush? The clock is ticking!! I’m not gonna wait for ever!!! There is other bums in the division that I want to eat for breakfast pic.twitter.com/ZZwhItBC2S
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) August 20, 2020
Fury stopped Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO) in their February rematch, dominating the fight and dropping the 34-year-old American twice before Wilder’s corner threw the towel in the seventh round.
Wilder exercised his clause for a third bout just a week after the rematch, but two weeks later all hell broke loose with the coronavirus pandemic, and boxing was shut down for nearly three months. The original target date of July 18 was scrapped, then the idea to do it in September was scrapped. Last update was hopeful for December, but in all reality that is less likely every week that goes by.
Fury also has Dillian Whyte to think about, as Whyte is the WBC mandatory and lined up for a shot in early 2021, provided Whyte beats Alexander Povetkin this weekend. And then there’s the really big money idea, a potential undisputed title fight with WBA/IBF/WBO titleholder Anthony Joshua, which has agreed terms for a two-fight deal, but nothing officially on paper. Fury could also simply vacate the WBC title at any point, as he’s never seemed particularly hung up on belts.
Wilder has been pretty quiet since February, and he had biceps surgery earlier this year, so there’s also the question of whether or not he’ll even be ready to go in 2020.
It’s a whole situation right now, for various reasons — money, where to put the fight, Wilder’s health, Fury wanting to get back in action sooner than later. It seems inevitable that we will get Fury-Wilder 3, but it may have to wait quite a bit longer, and one or both of them may take an interim fight or interim fights in the meantime.