Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are scheduled to meet on July 24 for the WBC heavyweight title. But that wasn't always the case.
After Fury dropped Wilder twice and then proceeded to stop him in the seventh round to win the WBC belt and give the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist the first loss of his career, they were set to battle in a trilogy bout to settle the score once for and all. The third meeting was supposed to happen in July 2020, but Wilder had bicep surgery and got pushed back to Dec. 19. However, the college football conference championship games were happening, and the fight was postponed once again.
Fury grew impatient and felt the time period in the contract for the contest to occur had lapsed. Instead of trying to make a date for the Wilder clash, Fury shifted his attention to three-belt champion Anthony Joshua. Because of that, Wilder invoked his right to an arbitration hearing to enforce the fight to happen. Months of negotiations ensued between the camps of Joshua and Fury until agreement was finally reached a little over two weeks ago. One day later, that all went away as the arbitration judge ruled in Wilder's favor. With the fight now in his sights, Wilder is of the feeling that when it comes down to it, Fury wanted nothing to do with him.
"I look at it as a coward way of trying to avoid me," Wilder told 78SPORTSTV. "For what reason? We know the reason, and he knows the reason."
"The Bronze Bomber" says Fury promised him a third fight and expected him to follow through with his end of the deal. It was a long road for Wilder to get the chance to win his championship and the road to compete for the undisputed heavyweight title still goes through him.
"I'm ready to get this title back," Wilder said. "We were contractually obligated to have a fight.
"He gave his word. When you do all that – and we have the proof – you've got to abide by that. You got to handle the business, and you can't close the chapter without going through Deontay Wilder."