Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DAZN.com.
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Tyson Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren believes there is little chance of staging a third fight with Deontay Wilder this year.
Fury and Wilder were expected to meet on Dec. 19, but Bob Arum has suggested that a fight on that date would not be possible and a new date is in the works.
Warren said Fury would like to make the fight this year and has been preparing seriously in anticipation.
“He wants to fight for obvious reasons,” Warren told BT Sport. “He’s been training hard as a lot of fighters have. It’s not just about the money with him, it’s about getting back out there.
“I think it’s getting to him a bit as it is a lot of fighters. It’s well documented the problems he had getting back and boxing has been his savior. We have got to keep him focused that he can fight, he wants to fight.”
Warren suggested that even if the Wilder fight is out for 2020, another opponent might be found.
“If we can’t get the Wilder fight,” he said, “we have got to look at something else, work between us and work with everyone concerned.”
Fury was away from boxing for almost three years because of substance abuse and mental health problems. He returned in 2018, and in his third fight back he drew with Wilder. That led to the rematch earlier this year and Fury’s victory. Wilder then exercised a clause in their contract that requires Fury to give him a third fight.
Warren said staying active in boxing is important to Fury’s mindset.
“At the end of the day all I care about is Tyson, that his welfare and wellbeing is being catered for,” he said. “So somehow we got to get him out, get our thinking caps on and get our hands in someone’s pockets and get it on.
“He’s the best he’s ever looked, and more importantly he is on it mentally, and I don’t want him to lose that edge. And I don’t want him to get despondent about it. So we all got to work together to make sure something happens.
“Some time next week we will work it out, say, ‘right, these are the options, what do you want to do?’ And it’s going to be his decision. He’s the champion, and he is the driving seat. Next week we will see what we got.”
A delay in the fight between Wilder and Fury might have implications for the proposed fight with Anthony Joshua, penciled in for 2021.
Joshua is expected to meet mandatory IBF challenger Kubrat Pulev in December and could vacate his WBO belt instead of fighting mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk in order to make the Fury fight happen.
Any rescheduling might give Joshua a window to retain his belt in order to stage a true unification event with Fury.
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