Judge Rules Tyson Fury Must Face Deontay Wilder In Rematch By Sept. 15th

The Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua championship unification match could be in jeopardy as a judge ruled Tyson Fury must face Deontay Wilder or come to an agreement in their rematch-clause dispute.

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The boxing world has been waiting for a big-time match-up between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua ever since Fury made his return to boxing. The stakes and hype for the fight grew, even more, when Fury defeated Deontay Wilder to become the champion in 2020. This set the stage for Fury Vs Joshua to be a title unification match for the ages.

The fight was finally announced just a few days ago to take place on August 14th in Dubai, but shortly after, a big problem emerged that has put the fight in jeopardy. When Fury beat Deontay Wilder to become champion, there was still a third fight clause on the table for the loser to have their right to a trilogy unless they opted out. When the clause was added, we can assume Wilder didn’t think he would lose, so of course Deontay did not want to opt-out. Thanks to COVID-19, the world stopped and the contractual date for the third rematch passed without being able to actually make the fight happen. Now, Yahoo Sports reports a Judge has ruled that Tyson Fury does owe Deontay a rematch–even if a global pandemic did stop the rematch from happening in the allotted time.

The arbitrator, retired Judge Daniel Weinstein, granted an injunction request by Wilder to enforce a provision in his original contract with Fury for a third fight. Weinstein ruled that Fury must fight Wilder by Sept. 15.

Though Weinstein’s arbitration ruling is not a court order, it is enforceable by the courts. That makes it likely that Fury will obey the order and fight Wilder, though Fury has yet to speak publicly. The alternative would be for Fury to negotiate a deal with Wilder to step aside with the agreement that Wilder would face the winner.

When you look at the situation, Wilder is very smart getting this ruling after the Fury Vs. Joshua match has been announced and contracts have been signed. The odds of Wilder fighting Fury before that match is pretty much impossible, leaving only one option on the table. That option you ask? Pay Deontay Wilder a ton of money to step aside and let the planned fight happen with him facing the winner. Talk about one hell of a stimulus check and payday for Deontay Wilder.