Tyson Fury’s trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder is set to take place on 18 July in a repeat of their Las Vegas encounter, promoter Bob Arum has said.
Fury’s plan to unify the entire division has been put on hold after Wilder officially triggered a rematch clause from their 22 January contest, which stipulated that the loser of the bout would be entitled to an immediate rematch on a 60-40 split in favour of the winner, so long as they activated it within 30 days.
With Wilder confirming on Sunday that he has done exactly that. Top Rank chairman Arum revealed that a date and venue is already penciled in for the third encounter between the two heavyweights, with Wilder set to try and regain the WBC championship at the same MGM Grand Garden Arena where he lost it within five months’ time.
“Now we will sit down and go through all the details for the fight,” Arum told ESPN, confirming that the broadcaster is set to join up once more with Fox to put on a joint-pay-per-view event.
“We realised that date was the favourite of both ESPN and Fox because it comes at a dead time in sports, which is good for the fight. It’s after the basketball playoffs, baseball is in the middle of the season and there’s no football. It’s the ideal time. The hotel, MGM Grand, also believes it to be an ideal time.”
Under the terms of the rematch clause, the trilogy fight was required to be staged in one of three American cities, with Vegas rivalling New York and Los Angeles – where Wilder vs Fury I took place – though Vegas remains the frontrunner given how it fits the bill at that time of year.
It means that there is no prospect of Fury returning to fight in Britain in his next contest, or follow Anthony Joshua’s decision to venture to uncharted territory in Saudi Arabia in the pursuit of a lucrative pay-day, although Fury will now take the majority of the purse following the 50-50 split that was included last weekend.
Despite the convincing manner of Fury’s victory that included two knockdowns – the first of Wilder’s professional career – Arum never had any doubt that Wilder would look to utilise the rematch clause given the perils of heavyweight boxing and the potential for one fight to change the complexion of a contest.
“I figured he would do it because I have had enough experience with rematches to know that anything can happen and guys can change their strategy and want the opportunity to (avenge) the loss,” Arum added.
