Wilder plans to exercise clause for third fight with Fury

Wilder says he’s going right back in with the man who smashed him in their Saturday rematch.

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury were known to have a contractual clause forcing a third fight between the two going into last Saturday night’s rematch in Las Vegas, and with Wilder coming up well short in that fight via seventh round TKO, it was the American who had to choose whether or not to exercise that clause.

According to The Athletic’s Lance Pugmire, Wilder intends to do just that, with the third meeting between the two likely to take place in the summer.

Pugmire’s Tweet on the subject also says that Wilder believes “his legs were weakened by his 45-pound costume he wore to the ring to honor Black History Month,” so if you choose to believe that, there’s a big one for the people moaning that these ring entrances have become too elaborate.

Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO) and Fury (30-0-1, 29 KO) in a third fight is still a really big fight, and there’s certainly a story to tell about the vanquished, fearsome American trying to bounce back from his first pro defeat, which happened in humbling fashion no matter how anyone frames it.

Now we’ll see if Wilder actually exercises the clause — there’s no great reason to believe he won’t, but things happen in boxing — and if he does, if Fury takes the fight, because with Tyson Fury, you never really know.