Just as word leaked out that there would be a four-belt, world heavyweight championship unification bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury on August 14th in Saudi Arabia, the boxing world was turned upside down when an arbitrator ruled that Fury owes Deontay Wilder a third fight because Wilder's immediate rematch clause from 2020 is valid and enforceable. Fury's British co-promoter, Frank Warren told BT Sport on Tuesday morning, "Tyson's been ordered to fight Deontay Wilder by September, so we are trying to reach an accomodation with Deontay's team so that the Tyson and AJ fight can happen, or Tyson will fight Wilder... we'll come to some sort of settlement with Wilder or not, and we'll get on with a fight." 

 

ESPN, however, reports that Fury's American co-promoter Bob Arum is taking a harder stance against reaching a deal with Wilder, with Fury-Wilder III coming as early as July 24th in Las Vegas. Arum was quoted as saying, "we're not paying Wilder to step aside. It's better to get rid of him and go about our business. We can make the Fury-Joshua fight for November or December." Arum, however, has admittedly told half-truths and even non-truths to the press before, so he could very well be taking a different position in behind-the-scenes negotiations. There is certainly money available to pay Wilder to step aside, as Arum confirmed in an earlier interview, there would be a a payment of over $150 million to bring Joshua-Fury to Saudi Arabia.  

 

As for Joshua's position, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn released a video in which he said, "We were already assured [by Top Rank throughout the long negotiation period] that this [the rematch clause] wouldn't be a problem... but that's their business, their responsibility... I think [Bob Arum] was in complete and utter shock [when he called me after hearing the news]... Once he calmed down, I think the move then was to speak to the other side [Wilder and is advisor Al Haymon] and see if there's a resolution. We can't control that or be involved with that process." 

 

Hearn said if Wilder will not allow Joshua-Fury to come first, former world cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk could be Joshua's next challenger for the IBF/WBO/WBA titles. "From our point of view, we have to get our side in order and make sure we have our own plans and hopefully, they can resolve the issue and we can move forward with the August 14th fight... We know what we want to do. We want to win the undisputed championship. We want to fight Tyson Fury but really, if his hands are tied, we have to look elsewhere. And the game changed last night. The [replacement fight] that springs to mind immediately is the WBO mandatory vs. Oleksandr Usyk. If Team Fury don't get their act together by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight. AJ wants to fight this summer, but we have two or three other options. We hope they can solve their problem, but we have to llok afdter ourselvs, we have to look after Anthony Joshua. Let's see if Team Fury can pull something out of the bag for their fighter."