Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III on Christmas Day?
Following such a fantastically rocky 2020, it would be fun to end the year on a high note. Certainly a high stakes heavyweight championship bout would serve as a great moral booster. Thankfully this is exactly what Top Rank promotions Bob Arum is working on now.
If all goes according to this potential script, then the boxing world could be treated to the WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO’s) versus Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO’s) trilogy on Christmas Day.
The highly anticipated dust-up would air live from Sydney, Australia’s Bankwest Stadium.
BOXING CHRISTMAS PRESENT
As unlikely as it may sound too many American ears, there is a very real possibility the triolgy is heading to the land down under. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Arum mentioned that he was working with his ‘friends’ in Sydney to put together a potential prizefight. Now, it has been revealed that the dramatic heavyweight rubber match is the supposed bout in question.
For his part, Arum remained rather tight-lipped on the matter. One of those Australian friends, however, promoter Dean Lonergan, has emerged to provide us with a bit more information on the tantalizing showdown.
Lonergan was an integral part of bringing WBA super world welterweight champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO’s) to Australia to fight Jeff Horn (20-2-1, 13 KO’s). Now, due to the scheduling chaos brought upon by the COVID-19 protocols, he believes that his backyard can provide the perfect backdrop for the meaningful fight as he explained to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“When Bob came out and said that we are talking to ‘our friends in Australia’, I’m the one he’s talking to. It’s my proposal, I put it to him with budgets, how we’d do it, the whole lot.
“Bob has been an incredible partner and ally for me in the world of boxing. I just had a thought six weeks ago that if these guys can’t do a major fight in Las Vegas or New York, why not come down here where I know we can get a crowd.
“We are flexible around the timing, but if we did it at 1:30pm on Boxing Day, it would be beamed back into the States on Christmas night.”
THE LAST DANCE?
Following their February 22 rematch, Fury and Wilder had left the world stunned at what had transpired. Rather than use his boxing finesse, the Gypsy King adopted a straight-forward kamikaze style of attack against Wilder that worked to perfection.
Caught off guard, the former WBC world heavyweight champion had no meaningful response and was roughed up and ultimately stopped in the seventh round. Fury fans hold the impressively dominant victory up as their validation that the Gypsy King has always been the superior fighter.
Wilder fans have loudly clamored that something was off with the Bomber and have even accused Fury of cheating by tampering with his left glove.
Thanks to Wilder’s rematch clause the two big men are obligated to dance at least one more time. There is no question that staging such a significant bout, after this traumatic year, on Christmas Day is definitely one for the archives!
“It’s an excellent relationship. I have enormous respect for Bob since he came down here with Manny Pacquiao. We’ve done a few deals like when Jeff [Horn] fought Terence Crawford. We had a deal on the table to fight Ryōta Murata, the middleweight champion, but unfortunately it didn’t eventuate because of the loss to Michael Zerafa.
“This could be a massive historical event.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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