The biggest heavyweight boxing showdown in a generation, between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, will have to wait after both Fury and Wilder verbally agreed to settle their rivalry once and for all in a July 24 bout in Las Vegas.
Fury and Joshua had looked to be on a collision course to meet in the biggest heavyweight boxing unification match in a generation when, after a year of rumors and false starts, it was announced that the highly-anticipated fight would take place in Saudi Arabia on August 14.
One sticking point was a constant, however: language in Wilder's contract stemming from his seventh-round defeat at the hands of 'The Gypsy King' last year afforded the American slugger the right to a third fight with the man who seized the WBC heavyweight title from him – and Wilder has no problem in playing spoiler and placing himself back into the spotlight as he seeks a measure of revenge against the only man to have defeated him in a boxing ring.
It had been suggested that Wilder might accept a so-called 'step-aside' fee to allow the Fury-Joshua bout to progress unimpeded, but Wilder referenced the issue in a social media post on Thursday, writing that "revenge is priceless".
Fury, though, countered talk of offering Wilder a fee to back down from their third fight, saying: "I wouldn’t pay him 20 grand. I pay in ass whippings... I’m going to crack his skull wide open this time."
It appears that an opportunity to do just that will come on July 24 after The Athletic reported that both sides have verbally agreed to fight this summer in Las Vegas, with either the Allegiant Stadium or the T-Mobile Arena the likely host. Both venues will be able to offer a full capacity of fans.
And when they set foot in the ring for a third time, Fury says that he will put a hurting on his heavyweight rival.
"Deontay Wilder’s a b*tch, p*ssy, shi*thouse, an excuse maker – and whoever it is in my next fight, I don’t care who it is: they are getting smashed to bits," he said.
"I don’t care if it’s King Kong, Godzilla a great white shark; I don’t care who it is, they are getting severely damaged.
"I’ve always had exceptional talent, exceptional ability to beat anybody that’s been put in front of me, hence being unbeaten in 13 years. Whoever the next opponent is, he is going to pay the price for all this messing around I’ve had over the last year.
"Covid f*cked things up a lot. I was supposed to fight many different people, none of which has materialized. I’m being told now that I’m fighting soon. I’m fit, ready to go – just got to cross all the T's and dot the I's and I’m going to make mincemeat of whoever they put in front of me."
When it comes to Wilder, Fury says that the evidence from their prior bout proves who the more dominant force in the heavyweight fold is.
"There’s heavyweight boxing and there’s Gypsy King boxing and I’m light years in front. How many light years is very easy to tell. Three years out of the ring, drugs, alcohol, 400lbs, I came back and f*cked up Deontay Wilder and gave him a boxing lesson," said Fury.
"Second time, look what happened to him. I’ve been training every day since February, ready for a date, and someone is getting severely smashed to bits. You had a boxing lesson first time round, a humiliation: he missed 95% of his punches, then you had an absolute destruction in the second fight.
"I hate to think what he’s going to get this time. He tells people I cracked his skull last time. I’m going to crack it wide open and beware: I’m going to have two knuckledusters in my gloves this time, you p*ssy."
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