Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder rematch: What we know after Brit signs £80million deal with ESPN and Top Rank
The Gypsy King has now positioned himself with a rival American television network to complicate the heavyweight scene
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Tyson Fury has complicated the heavyweight landscape by landing a lucrative multi-year deal with ESPN for his exclusive US broadcasting rights.
Frank Warren has also relinquished some of Fury’s promotional rights to Bob Arum’s Top Rank in a major power move as the dust settles since Anthony Joshua announced his US debut to defend his world heavyweight titles vs Jarrell Miller.
The responsibility should not have fallen on Fury to match with Deontay Wilder for a second time or make the ultimate all-British super fight against Joshua – he must look out for No 1.
"As far as I'm concerned, the fight is more makeable now than ever because we have the biggest boys in the game behind us and I'm only a fighter," Fury claimed, attempting to alleviate the fans' immediate concerns. "I can only fight who they put in front of me. I want the biggest fights., the Joshuas, the Wilders of the world, and everyone else out there too."
It seems power and control is also pivotal in the decision, alongside a career-high payday, with Fury hinting he was disgruntled at being the 'opponent' for the first Wilder fight.
"It gives me an opportunity to be shown to the most people in the world," Fury added. "And be in the position not to be an opponent. They have to come to the Tyson Fury show now."
But after both Fury and Wilder emerged with enhanced reputations after risking their stock by meeting each other in the first place over waiting it out to face Joshua, Fury’s move appears to have cast the rematch into doubt.
The mystique surrounding Fury’s condition was the key to the intial fight, following to routine comeback wins over Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta.
Fury swiftly demonstrated elite movement and timing to befuddle Wilder from the first bell, with the American struggling to connect throughout the contest.
But crucially two knockdowns in Round 9 and 12 allowed Wilder to scrape a draw and defend his title. Whilst Fury’s camp reacted incredulously to the result, despite suffering the knockdowns, the pair reflected on the bout positively, knowing they had enhanced their bargaining power in a potential fight with unified world champion Joshua, or at least generated substantially more interest in a rematch, securing a big-money payday with or without Joshua.
Negotiations seemingly failed to even start between Wilder’s camp and Eddie Hearn, who insisted manager Shelly Finkel would not even pick up the phone to initiate talks to fill Wembley Stadium in the second of two Joshua dates on April 13.
With time running out and Dillian Whyte spurning the opportunity to step in as the contingency option, Joshua and Hearn swiftly moved to Plan C: Jarrell Miller.
The bruising American heavyweight gleefully accepted the chance to welcome AJ over to New York for a US debut on June 1, expanding his appeal to the lucrative US market and bolstering Hearn’s US-based streaming deal with DAZN – who contributed to the end of HBO Boxing and are now bringing eye-popping investment in a battle with OTT rival ESPN Plus and Showtime.
The assumption then was Wilder and Fury would follow Joshua’s announcement and even tactically select the date for their rematch before June 1, as well as the location, with Joshua set to defend his belts at Madison Square Garden.
But suddenly there is a fresh twist as Joshua embarks on his American Dream, as Fury has now netted himself a lifechanging £80 million payday – supplementing the millions pocketed from the Wilder fight that he claims to have donated to charity in the aftermath.
Fans ultimately will be left in the dark with the three finest heavyweights on the planet now positioned in rival camps: ESPN, Top Rank and DAZN. It is perhaps feasible that Showtime and ESPN Plus could thrash out a deal, as Fury insists, though nobody will fully believe that until the networks can demonstrate as much in the coming days and weeks.
For now, the expected heavyweight gauntlet seems further away than ever.
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