The boxing world was left stunned last night when it was announced that Deontay Wilder is entitled to a rematch with Tyson Fury following his loss to the Brit in February 2020. Fury had long been involved in negotiations to take on Anthony Joshua and it appeared likely that the fight would take place in Saudi Arabia on August 14th. That fight is now in doubt.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter who has been working tirelessly to finalise to the fight, was left stunned when the Wilder news reached him. The Matchroom boss was convinced that all the difficult issues in securing the Joshua vs. Fury fight had been completed but he wasn’t expecting Monday’s development.
“It was a shock to the system,” revealed Hearn in a recorded statement issued by Matchroom. “These negotiations have been going on for three or four months now and we were always assured that this [Wilder’s hearing] wouldn’t be a problem. We have to see now where they go with it.”
Throughout the entire saga, Hearn has remained confident that a deal to make Joshua vs. Fury would be completed and he has previously admitted that there was no back-up plan for the 2012 Olympic gold medallist. It appears that mindset has been forced to change.
“The only fight we had our minds on was Tyson Fury and we hope that fight can still take place on August 14th. The game changed last night where we have to have a Plan B in place, and probably a Plan C, and we have a couple of different options.
“The one that springs to mind immediately is the WBO mandatory, Oleksandr Usyk. They’ve been quite patient and I think we’re in a situation now where if Team Fury don’t get their act together by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight.
“AJ wants to fight this summer. Oleksandr Usyk is the mandatory. We have two or three other options as well.”