Tyson Fury Set For Historic Rematch Against Deontay Wilder

One of the most anticipated boxing matches ever is the rematch between British professional boxer, Tyson Fury, and his American counterpart, Deontay Wilder.

The rematch takes place on February 22 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Los Angeles, the United States and comes about a year after the two fought at the Los Angeles Staples Centre in December 2018. The match ended in a split draw.

In the first match between the two unbeaten fighters, Fury spent most of the evening frustrating Wilder with an effective jab and deft movement, even surviving a ninth-round knockdown to roar back in the final reel.

Wilder, whose WBC belt will be on the line when they meet again at the MGM Grand, tweeted, “There will be no more unanswered questions and “I will finish what I started.”

But if Fury wins, it will put British fighters in charge of the heavyweight division, given that Anthony Joshua holds the other three belts of significance.

Regarded as one of the most feared fighters in the heavyweight boxing division, boasting an unbeaten record spanning 29 fights, 31-year-old Fury is a former world champion who defeated Ukrainian boxer, Vladimir Klitschko, in 2015. Klitschko had before the defeat held a decade-long WBC heavyweight championship title.

Meanwhile, whoever wins between Wilder and Fury is expected to face Joshua, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion titles.

A $100m rematch

As hype builds up around the Fury vs Wilder rematch, Mr Bob Arum, the Chief Executive Officer of boxing promotion company, Top Rank, said the upcoming fight would be among the highest-grossing heavyweight title fights of all time.

Arum, 88, said the February 22 rematch between the two undefeated fighters should gross “well in excess of $100m (N36bn).”

The previous match between Fury and Wilder reportedly had roughly 325,000 pay-per-view buys. But Arum told CNBC he expected the second fight to see even more pay-per-view buys.

“We are looking forward to doing record business with that fight,” said Arum, noting that Top Rank would need to split the fight’s revenue with Premier Boxing Champions, who manages Wilder.

Floyd Mayweather Jr’s defeat of then-UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in 2017 was the highest-grossing boxing fight of all-time, generating roughly $500m (N181bn) in pay-per-view sales.

Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao is second on the list, bringing in roughly $410m (N149bn), according to Business Insider.

“While we may be somewhat less than those events, it’ll still be probably among the biggest grossing heavyweight championship fights of all time,” Arum added.

Meanwhile, in the build-up to the rematch, Fury split with his trainer, Ben Davison, who had coached him since late 2017 and helped him lose a large amount of weight he had gained during his hiatus and restored him to fighting condition.

Davison was nominated for the 2018 Trainer of the Year due to his role in Fury’s successful return to the ring. The split was described as amicable and Davison wished Fury good luck in the rematch against Wilder.

After parting ways with Davison, Fury announced he had partnered with Javan Steward, nephew of Hall of Fame trainer, Emanuel Steward. The boxer also said he would return to Kronk Gym, where he briefly trained in 2010.