Tyson Fury may end up being ordered to fight Deontay Wilder for an unprecedented fourth time, despite a decisive set of victories in their trilogy.
Some fans and experts felt Fury had done enough to beat Wilder when they first met in December 2018, but that fight was scored a draw. The Brit made sure the judges couldn't affect the result when they fought in 2020 and 2021, stopping the American on both occasions.
However, Wilder may be as two fights away from earning another shot at the WBC belt, which Fury won from him in 2020. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has indicated that the winner of Wilder's October 15 fight with Robert Helenius will face Andy Ruiz Jr in a final eliminator for the Brit's title.
Sulaiman wrote in his column for Lopez Doriga : “Ruiz vs Ortiz is an official WBC elimination fight. The winner will get the pass to fight a final eliminator, and thus dispute the world championship. Deontay Wilder returns to the ring on October 15 to face Robert Helenius at the Barclays Center in another semi-final elimination bout. The winner goes against the winner between Ruiz vs Ortiz.”
Fury has laughed off the idea, responding in an Instagram story by joking that it "looks like I'll be fighting Wilder for the fourth time," with a crying laughing emoji. But he will certainly be feeling deja vu of sorts after he was forced to fight Wilder last year, costing him tens of millions and an undisputed heavyweight title bout with Anthony Joshua.
Contracts were drawn up, a date and venue agreed and final details were being ironed out for an August 14 fight in Saudi Arabia. However, both parties were stunned when an arbitrator ruled that Wilder was owed a third fight with his rival, and the bout was cancelled.
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While Fury did knock out Wilder again, Joshua was unable to stave off his slate of mandatory challengers as a result of holding three belts, and was forced to face the undefeated former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian came to London and shocked the world by claiming the titles, before winning a rematch this year.
Fury has claimed he is retired, and it's likely that if he were actually ordered to face Wilder again as a mandatory that he would legitimately hang up his gloves. He is keen to fight Usyk for the undisputed title next year after the Ukrainian returns from injury but is currently in talks to fight Joshua this year, offering a 60/40 split to the former champion for a UK showdown. They are eyeing up the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to host the contest, with December 17 a possible date.
