Deontay Wilder says Tyson Fury rematch is happening, possibly in Las Vegas

By Tim Royner

Boxingnews24.com

Deontay Wilder says that he will be fighting lineal hevyweight champion Tyson Fury in a rematch, and he believes that it could take place in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States. Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) states the rematch with the unbeaten Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) will make the most money in the U.S than elsewhere like the UK.

As far as Anthony Joshua goes, Wilder says he’s not going to entertain the offers from his promoters at Matchroom Boxing. He says they know what he wants in terms of the purse split. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn revealed recently that he’d offered Wilder a 60-40 split, which is well below the 50-50 that he’s asking for to take the fight. Hearn says there’s a possibility Wilder could get a 50-50 deal for the rematch with Joshua if he beats him in the first fight, which he is insisting take place in the UK. If Wilder loses to Joshua in the first fight, his purse split could drop down to 70-30 for the rematch.

“Most definitely [rematch with Tyson Fury is happening next]. I’m ready to get in camp, and I’m ready to get it on,” Wilder said to Behind the Gloves. “We’re working everything out.”

The rematch with Fury needs to happen for the sake of the boxing fans in order to clear up the controversy of their recent fight on SHOWTIME PPV last month on December 1. That fight ended with a 12 round split draw. A lot of Fury’s boxing fans feel that he was robbed, but the fact that he was knocked twice and given a count while he appeared to be knocked cold in the 12th, it takes away from their argument. The same fight likely would have been stopped straightaway if it had a more cautious referee.

There are a lot of referees that stop fights even when a fighter is slightly buzzed on their feet. An example of that is the referee Phil Edwards that stopped the Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam fight in the 10th round when Takam was slightly hurt from a punch. Would that same referee have given Fury a count when he seemingly cold by Wilder in the 12th? That’s the problem. Fury’s fans think he won, but there are just as many boxing fans that think Tyson was given a count in the 12th when he shouldn’t have been. Moreover, there aren’t too many challengers in the sport that are given wins over world champions after they’ve been knocked down twice in the fight. You don’t see that happening. You can argue that challengers that are knocked down twice by champions rarely win.

“Why not?,” Wilder said when asked if the rematch with Fury will take place in the United States. “We might as well get the most money, and that’s in America. Vegas is a strong possibility. Tax free,” Wilder said.

If there was a possibility of selling out a large stadium like Wembley Stadium in London, UK for the Wilder-Fury rematch, then it might make sense for the second fight to be staged in the UK. The tickets would need to be priced in such a way so that it would come out to more money than what the fight would make in the United States with the higher ticket prices. It’s not point in putting the Wilder vs. Fury 2 rematch in the UK if the tickets are sold for next to nothing in comparison to what they would if the contest took place in America.

“The who, the what? I can hear you,” Wilder said when asked about his thoughts on the latest offer from Matchroom Boxing Promotions for a fight between him and Anthony Joshua. “I don’t know. When those guys come with real offers, they know what we want. I’m not going to play around with them. Come straight, come direct, and come correct. They know what we want. There’s no reason to play around. If it ain’t right, we don’t want to entertain it. That’s the bottom line,” Wilder said.

Hearn has been transparent in saying that Wilder and Fury aren’t going to get a 50-50 split for a fight against Joshua. The problem is that Joshua can make loads of money fighting guys like Alexander Povetkin, Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker. Why would Joshua agree to take slightly more money for a fight with Wilder or Fury when he can continue to make a lot by fighting lesser guys where he enjoys a wide purse split?