WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder heads into a massive title defense at the end of this year, a fight born out of the frustrations of not being able to nail down Anthony Joshua.
A failed attempt to agree terms with an immediate rematch clause killed the clash stone dead and put Wilder in no mans land with the threat of the remaining nine months of 2018 being a complete washout.
Despite scoring a career-best win over Luis Ortiz back in March, Wilder had hit a dead end and only wanted to secure a huge encounter in order to seal a place on Showtime Pay-Per-View for the first time.
With Joshua backing away from a deal in order to stick to his original plan of facing Alexander Povetkin and then Dillian Whyte in a rematch, Wilder turned his attention to the rejuvenated Tyson Fury.
In a move which has gazumped Joshua’s plans to face Fury in 2020, Wilder quickly put pen to paper on a 50-50 deal with the former undisputed king and heads into their Las Vegas meeting with several months of inactivity.
Fury, who was out of action for two and half years before returning over the summer, is amazingly the more active of the two competitors but remains the slight underdog to secure victory.
According to several bookmakers citing odds for the clash, Wilder is around 8/11 for the victory, with Fury a worst price 5/4 to get the job done when the pair collide, potentially at the T-Mobile Arena in November.
If predictions by the fraction makers are correct, Wilder will inflict a first loss on Fury and effectively degrade Joshua’s chances of making a mountain of cash in an all-British undefeated battle.
Joshua v Fury was predicted by promoter Eddie Hearn to be the most lucrative fight out there for his star fighter, although a win for Wilder would knock millions off the paycheck and could even put the fight to bed for good.
An unthinkable defeat for Fury may also spell the end of his fragile career entirely and see the ‘Gypsy King’ out of a much-sought-after collision with Joshua permanently.
An official announcement is yet to be forthcoming from Frank Warren (Fury’s side) and Deontay Wilder’s team, with co-manager Shelly Finkel telling WBN earlier this month he was fully confident it would happen.
“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,” Finkel exclusively told World Boxing News.
“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 real good that it will happen in November or December and we want to make it happen,” he added.
