‘You sorry muthaf*cka’: Wilder hits out at Fury as rematch hopes on the ropes

The highly anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder has hit a snag after WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed that the British former champion has indicated he will look elsewhere for his next opponent.

After announcing last week that he was "confident" that terms would be agreed promptly for a rematch, Sulaiman backtracked on social media on Tuesday saying that the Wilder-Fury II is "officially not happening next."

According to the the WBC head, Deontay Wilder had indicated his willingness to accept the bout but Fury has opted to take on another opponent for his next fight, before finalizing the rematch with the 'Bronze Bomber' later this year.

May 18 had been the date that the negotiating parties had targeted and Sulaiman admitted his disappointment at the failure to arrange the fight. 

"It feels like someone let all the air out of the balloon," he said.

"We are at great moment in the heavyweight division and there was a lot of excitement for this rematch, and we lost a couple of months waiting to get this done.

"I will go to the WBC board and discuss it. The position from Wilder was to officially seek the rematch through the WBC mandate. So we’ll look at this and make a determination quickly."

A rematch between the pair has been speculated since their drawn first encounter in December, in what was one of the year's most entertaining bouts.

The hitch comes just days after Fury signed a massive broadcast deal with US sports broadcaster ESPN, in which they paid more than €93mln ($105mln) for exclusive broadcasting rights of his future fights.

However, when the deal was announced it was noted by many that the world's three most prominent heavyweight boxers - Fury, Wilder and Anthony Joshua - are now all partnered with different broadcasters, meaning that future negotiations between the trio's representatives may well be complicated.

Tyson Fury (L) & Deontay Wilder (R) © Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo

Wilder has a deal with Showtime, while Joshua has a multi-fight contract with DAZN.

Somewhat predictably, Wilder has displayed his frustration at the change of plans. The WBC champion will now likely face mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale next and hit out at Fury, accusing him of being afraid to face him after the two knockdowns he suffered in their first clash.

"You requested a warm-up fight first," he said on Twitter. "I don’t blame you tho, I probably would too if I saw my brains splashed all over the canvas."