Deontay Wilder has warned Tyson Fury he may never get another shot at the world title on his watch after the Brit backed out of a rematch.
Wilder accused Fury of ducking a rematch after signing a multi-million dollar deal with TV network ESPN.
Speaking to Sirius XM Fight Nation 93 this weekend, the WBC heavyweight champion gave his verdict on Fury’s decision.
The American also stated Fury’s $100 million agreement won’t live up to ESPN expectations without him.
“We knew Fury wasn’t gonna take this fight. You know we got to a certain point in time when they were stalling about signing the contract that was already set a week ago. When he was stalling from signing that, we knew something was wrong,” Wilder explained to Sirius XM hosts Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney.
“We knew there was a problem when Frank wasn’t answering his phone anymore. You know it wasn’t no reason for him not to answer. We knew something was up.
“Fury had his face in the contract for a week to get a rematch on. That was a 50/50 deal. So you know nothing was wrong with the contract that everything was good.
“We got past the first fight. You know it was easy for me to fight again. The second we thought it was gonna be the same as the first, but Fury did not want to fight me.
“Fury signed the ESPN deal to run away from me. You (Fury) can’t go anywhere now. Well, where he gonna go? He’s not a champion. He didn’t win the fight. Fury used all his bulls*** and he gonna find it hard some to get people to understand him.
“Now he’s going back to his old ways to trying to back out of things or whatever. But what he doesn’t realize is that he is not a champion. I’m THE champion in America. And all these guys get in deals is based on the potential of fighting me. If I don’t get Tyson Fury again, I just say f*** him then. If you don’t want to fight, I got to someone else.”
On Fury signing with ESPN so the fight didn’t happen:
"Fury did not want to fight me. Fury signed this ESPN deal just to run away from me … What he doesn't realize is he is not a champion." — @BronzeBomber on Tyson Fury@CommishRandyG @gerrycooney #WilderFury2 #boxing pic.twitter.com/AKinvm95UG
— SiriusXM Boxing (@SiriusXMBoxing) March 2, 2019
BACKFIRED
Wilder shared twelve rounds with Fury back in December. The pair then all-but-agreed a second fight on May 18th.
Fury backed out at the eleventh hour when putting pen to paper with Top Rank and ESPN. The deal stipulated that ‘The Gypsy King’ must face an alternative foe in order to further build for a second fight with Wilder.
ESPN would also expect some sort of Pay-Per-View element to bolster Fury’s contract. Which is unlikely to happen without Wilder or UK rival Anthony Joshua.
Backfiring somewhat, Wilder may now swerve Fury in favor of pursuing Joshua himself for an undisputed unification.
Should Wilder and Joshua converse to meet later in 2019, it will be Fury who finds himself out in the cold. As Joshua did previously.
SiriusXM Fight Nation 93 airs Mondays and Fridays from 6-8p ET on the first and only nationally-broadcast combat radio channel SiriusXM Fight Nation 93.
The show is hosted by former New York State athletic commissioner Randy Gordon and former #1-ranked Heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney.
