Tyson Fury was surprised that Deontay Wilder wants another go at him.
Fury beat up and then knocked out Wilder in the seventh round of their rematch on Feb. 22. Still, Wilder exercised a clause in their contract that allowed for a third fight. The two drew in 2018.
“Yeah, I was surprised because it was a one-sided fight,” Fury told talkSPORT. “He didn’t win a second of that second fight, but in this game it’s a short game and a short career, and there’s an old saying: ‘We’ve gotta make hay while the sun shines.’
“And for Deontay Wilder at the age of 34, how many big fights out there are left for him after a domination like he had? So I understand where he’s coming from. I understand that he has probably a lot of bills to pay.
“I don’t know the man’s personal circumstances, but from what I’ve seen of these American fighters and sportsmen, they always live a rock star’s lifestyle, even though they’re not rock stars.
“They go through a lot of money quite quickly. Just look at Mike Tyson. He went through like a billion dollars or whatever he went through. So I’m sure that the money side of it is the tempting thing.
“I don’t think it’s too tempting to go in there and get an absolute beating like he did before, but he would be tempted by the amount of money that he would receive because they go through it quite quickly.
“I think that’s the reason he’s taking the fight, for the money.”
Fury said he expected more from Wilder in the fight.
“To be honest I was quite disappointed in the challenge that Wilder brought,” he said. “Because I did train for 12 rounds at any pace and put myself through hell and back for 10 weeks in the training camp.
“And I prepared for the best fighter on the planet, I prepared for the most vicious puncher on the earth that there’s ever been. And I was quite disappointed because it wasn’t the challenge that I expected.
“Although it was a fantastic victory for myself and it was a great fight, it just did seem that Wilder maybe wasn’t himself. Maybe all the excuses he made, some of them were true. Maybe his legs were sore from the costume, maybe he did have the flu, maybe he did have a broken arm or a bone in his back or whatever.
“I’m not sure because that wasn’t the Deontay Wilder that I prepared for. That wasn’t the animal I put myself through all those hours in training for. Like I said, it would be one of my easiest fights, and it was. I believe that was one of my easiest fights apart from the early knockovers that I had.
“And on this level you don’t usually get that sort of easy victory, with heavyweight champions of the world. The guy’s been heavyweight champion of the world and made 10 title defenses, knocked out every single person.
“And to go in there with me, who’s usually a boxer, counter-puncher, master-skilled boxer, and get absolutely destroyed in a few rounds. I trained for an absolute battle royale and I didn’t get that, so hopefully there’s a couple of fighters out there that, when I do go into training camp and I do serious training, that they will be worthy of the challenge.
“I’m not in boxing to be heavyweight champion or win some belts or anything. I’m here to give the fans what they want, battle royales, and the best fights that can be made. From what I’m seeing, if that’s the best out there, then I’m not gonna get the worthy challengers that I crave.”
The tentative date for the third Fury-Wilder fight is July 18 at the MGM Grand, the same venue at which the second fight took place.