Fury-Joshua Fight Back In Doubt As Wilder Wins Rematch Arbitration

So about the long-awaited finalizing of Tyson Fury – Anthony Joshua for this August….. Apparently, it’s not so fast. This after the arbitrator, who has been hearing testimony on the enforcement of the rematch clause for Fury and Deontay Wilder’s potential’s third fight has ruled in favor of the “Bronze Bomber.”

Chris McKenna of the Daily Star reported first on Monday night London time that arbitrator Daniel Weinstein had ruled in the former WBC champion Wilder’s favor in his quest to enforce the rematch clause on the deal that Fury and Wilder signed for their second fight last February,

The arbitrator in the Fury and Wilder case has ruled for a third fight between the pair. Meaning the Joshua fight is in serious doubt for this summer. Unsure if there is a further resolution to this as legal teams still in discussions.https://t.co/jNCjU61XXL

— Chris McKenna (@cmckennasport) May 17, 2021

This comes on the heels of Fury having announced on social media Sunday afternoon that he is accepting the terms of the proposed Undisputed World title clash with the Unified Champion Joshua for August in Saudi Arabia. That fight has been long discussed for over a year with the two sides agreeing to a tentative, two fight agreement.

However, all of that has been contingent on whether Fury is free to fight Joshua, as the WBC champion.

Clearly the arbitrator’s ruling has now called that into question by enforcing the rematch clause and ordering a third fight between Wilder and the “Gypsy King” to happen, according to McKenna’s report, by September 15th.

The two originally fought on February 22nd in Las Vegas with Fury, 30-0-1, handing the Alabama-native Wilder, 42-1-1, his first pro loss on a 7th round TKO. Wilder invoked the rematch clause the following week, but the third fight was delayed during the Covid 19 shutdown of sports and then, over questions about where it could be held and with at least some fans present.

Then, in December, Fury and his promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing and Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, announced that he was moving on to another bout, as the date on the rematch clause was expiring with the end of 2020 calendar year.

That ramped up the negotiations for Joshua-Fury and their proposed two fight deal. It would theoretically be the first time that two British World Heavyweight champs would square off for the Undisputed title. But now…

Ironically the February 2020 fight was a rematch that Wilder gave to Fury that wasn’t contractually bound by their first fight. That took place in December of 2018 and saw Wilder, behind on the cards, score a dramatic 12th round knockdown to earn a draw and retain the title.

The obvious leverage that Wilder now has is the reported $30 million guarantee for both fighters in the contract for the third fight. It would take probably at least that amount of money for him to step aside and allow the fury Joshua fight to happen for the Undisputed title.

Further, it’s obvious that Wilder would use the arbitrator’ ruling leverage with the WBC to have them strip Fury of the title, if he refuses to fight Wilder and tries to go ahead and fight Joshua instead.

That would obviously nullify the “Undisputed” promotional element of their proposed battle and basically, render it as a fight for Joshua’s IBF, WBA and WBO belts.