Home

Boxing

Bob Arum Reveals the Truth About Deontay Wilder Stepping Aside

Published 05/16/2020, 3:34 PM EDT

Follow Us

A few days back, there were media reports of Deontay Wilder considering a step-aside deal for his trilogy fight with Tyson Fury. “The Bronze Bomber” met with a lot of negative reviews for the same. However, Top Rank chief, Bob Arum, has confirmed that the reports had no substance behind them.

Fury thrashed Deontay Wilder during their second meeting. Therefore, the latter immediately invoked a rematch clause setting up a trilogy with Fury.

“The Gypsy King” dominated the affairs when the two met in February earlier this year. Consequently, a lot of people had already assumed that Fury would outclass the American in the trilogy as well.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Hence, they were more interested in an all-Brit unification fight between Anthony Joshua and Fury. The joy of such fans knew no bounds when they heard that Wilder was looking for a step-aside deal.

Media reports claimed that Wilder was looking for $10 million. Moreover, he wanted the opportunity to fight the winner of AJ vs Fury.

Bob Arum put an end to all such rumors. He laid it out in the open that Wilder’s camp never demanded any money. This was because they were never interested in a buy-out in the first place.

Tyson Fury wasn’t willing to pay Deontay Wilder for stepping aside

While the media reports of Wilder stepping aside turned out to be false, Fury wasn’t going to pay him the money either way. Hearing about Wilder’s potential idea, Fury said that he wanted the trilogy badly. Let alone $10 million, he wasn’t willing to pay $2 million to his former opponent.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Boxing stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

The WBC Heavyweight champ is looking to defend his title before the end of the year once. He will then look forward to a unification fight with Anthony Joshua.

Moreover, he probably knew that Wilder alone stepping aside won’t cut the deal. Even Joshua has his title defense lined up against Kubrat Pulev.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Both Fury and Joshua were planning to defend their belts around June or July this year. However, with the presence of a global pandemic, the scheduling has to be postponed. However, Bob Arum has already chalked out plans for coming back in June later this year.

Although he has denied the possibility of a Wilder-Fury fight without any crowd, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the same if the normal of social distancing have to be implemented for a long time.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Rishabh Singh

655Articles

One take at a time

Rishabh Singh is an MMA author at EssentiallySports since 2020. An engineer in the making, his love for combat sports began by watching Anderson Silva light people up inside the Octagon. When he isn't busy in his technical pursuits, he is an avid reader with a love for sports in general and sporting history in particular.
Show More>