Deontay Wilder is blanking even Tyson Fury as the rumours about their eagerly-awaited trilogy match continue to swirl.
It had been hoped they would meet for a third time at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday December 19, with the WBC, Ring magazine and lineal world heavyweight titles all on the line.
Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum though says the date will need to be changed now to avoid the but going up against a packed American football schedule in the battle for TV eyeballs.
Wilder Fury: the silence continues
Wilder has been strangely silent since suffering the first defeat of his professional career in the rematch with Fury back in February at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And Fury says he hasn’t been able to speak to ‘The Bronze Bomber’ since March, shortly after that stunning seventh-round stoppage victory.
He told talkSPORT: “I’ve not heard a thing. He took a FaceTime from me in March.
“I called him a bit of a big dosser and then he didn’t answer the phone to me ever again.”
The manner of Wilder’s defeat has led many experts to question his future at elite heavyweight level, despite his fearsome punching power. And others have asked whether his silence since that loss mean the trilogy scrap may not happen at all.
Joshua clash within touching distance
Wilder’s manager Shelley Finkel though has constantly re-iterated that those rumours are nonsense and that his man is training hard, ready to go and that the world will hear from him again soon.
Fury knows a second victory over Wilder (their first bout in Los Angeles in December 2018 ended in a controversial draw) will open the way for a money-spinning unification superfight against fellow British world heavyweight king Anthony Joshua.
Those two have already agreed in principle the financial structure of a two-fight deal and it had been expected the first of those two showdowns would take place next summer. The continuing delays due to COVID-19 though may affect that at some stage.
