Boxing News: Fury-Wilder III Withdrawn From Dec. 19, Could Be Staged Earlier

The trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will not push through on Dec. 19, Top Rank Promotions founder Bob Arum said Wednesday.

Blame it on football, Arum implied, as the fight date comes concurrently with several conference championships and NFL games.

"We're moving off because there (are) five conference championship games that day and night, plus two NFL games," Arum was quoted by ESPN, as saying. "So we can't go with the 19th.”

As a new date is being sought with the advice of the event’s official media partners, Arum shared that the bout could be staged "a little earlier in December,” instead of moving it later in the month, or perhaps in 2021.

“We're looking at other dates right now because ESPN advised us, and Fox advised the PBC (which promotes Wilder)," Arum added. "We're looking at the schedule -- PBC, Fox, ESPN and us -- to pick a date."

ESPN’s Dan Rafael initially reported that the third fight had been tentatively set on July 18 as Wilder picked up his option following a seventh-round stoppage loss in his rematch with Fury in February. But with sports, including boxing, heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was pushed back to Dec. 19.

Since then, several adjustments on plans had been made, including the possibility of having the fight taken to Australia. But as the organizers go back in search of a new date, Arum revealed that the target now is to bring the card at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL.

"It's definitely Allegiant Stadium," Arum said. "The Raiders are on board, the city is on board, the convention authority is on board. Everybody is on board."

The plan, is to have a limited number of fans present at the stadium with strict social distancing and other safety protocols to be observed, according to ESPN’s Steve Kim.

Fury and Wilder met for the first in December 2018 for the WBC Heavyweight Championship inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The fight ended in a controversial split draw with the scorecards at 115–111 for Wilder, 114–112 for Fury, and 113–113.

Nearly 15 months later, Fury bulldozed his way in the rematch and dominated Wilder, forcing the latter’s corner to throw in the towel and give the American the first taste of defeat in his career.