Wilder had been forced to seek an alternative opponent for a massive Showtime Pay-Per-View event in the late fall when plans to secure Anthony Joshua with a huge $50m offer were rejected.
Despite further efforts to secure Joshua for the UK since then, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has reverted to his original PPV blueprint and turned to Fury to fill the void in the opposite corner.
Fury has been vocal in confirming a deal was close via his social media, although Finkel opened up on the deal for the first time when speaking to WBN on Thursday.
Disappointment at losing out on an undisputed unification with Joshua has now subsided and been replaced by genuine excitement for what will be the top division event of 2018 in the boxing capital of the world, Las Vegas.
“We’ve been talking to Frank Warren for around two weeks now, and we’re close,” Finkel exclusively told World Boxing News.
“Everybody is working hard to get the deal done, and we’re hopeful it will happen because it’s a big, big fight and one that Deontay wants. All being well, it will take place November or December in the United States.”
Asked why the Fury fight has seemingly been so effortless to reach an advanced stage too quickly, Finkel answered: “Tyson Fury is not afraid, maybe like Anthony Joshua was, to come over to the US and fight Deontay. So for us, it’s the biggest fight out there we can make right now.
“We wanted Joshua, and I have my own opinions as to why they don’t want to do it, but now we have the chance to make the biggest fight out there for Deontay against Tyson Fury.
“Right now, it looks excellent that it will happen in November or December. We want to make it happen.
“We hope by next week Wilder v Fury will be done,” he added.
At 29, Fury ended a three and a half year exile from the ring against Sefer Seferi in June, blowing off the cobwebs in an easy five-round win.
Problems outside of the ring surfaced when Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf to become the unified champion of the world, seeing his life spiral out of control until a recent realization and resurgence.
‘The Gypsy King’ is now firmly back in contention, having been ranked at number seven by the WBC and will have one more outing against former Klitschko opponent Francesco Pianeta next month.
SHELLY FINKEL on FURY
On Fury getting back to competing at the top level, Finkel was confident the ex-ruler could whip himself into the best shape possible, having been training since October of 2017.
“Fighters who are a level above find a way to win. Look against Wladimir Klitschko, no-one gave him a chance to win, and he went there and won,” pointed out the New Yorker.
“With Sugar Ray Leonard, people said, ‘he didn’t look that good’ – but he came out of retirement after a couple of years and went right and beat Marvin Hagler.
“Same with Evander Holyfield when he didn’t look too good before the Mike Tyson fight. People said he’d get killed against Tyson, but he went there and beat him, so history is full of those kinds of stories.
“Since he’s come back, Tyson Fury is serious. If he didn’t believe he could do it, he wouldn’t do it,” he said.
Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
