FOR a man usually super active on social media, it took Deontay Wilder a little while to update his ‘Bomb Squad’ on the Tyson Fury negotiations, but he got there in the end.
Speaking to The Ring, Wilder has revealed the fight is very much a possibility for December – despite the suspicion it’s all a sick prank – and that the two of them, Wilder and Fury, are currently ironing out a few final sticking points before hopefully announcing the Las Vegas fight as a done deal.
“I believe 100 per cent that this fight is going to happen and it’s going to get done,” Wilder, undefeated in 40 fights with 39 knockouts, said. “We’re very, very close. Closer than (Anthony) Joshua and me could ever get in a lifetime.
“It’s definitely going to happen, there’s no doubt. There’s just a little more work to be done.”
Unlike the potential Joshua fight, which seems hampered by underlying ill feeling, as well as copious egos, this Plan B with Fury seems a business arrangement based on friendship – plus a need to make money and frustrate a common enemy – more than anything.
“Me and Fury, we talked with each other back and forth,” Wilder added. “I think he’s a great guy, we have a relationship together, and my team has a relationship with his team.”
Make peace, not war. Then look what happens.
Opportunity knocks for Jason Quigley.
The undefeated Irishman appears on the brink of challenging Japan’s Ryota Murata for his WBA regular middleweight title on October 20 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
The fight would require Murata to delay his WBA mandatory obligations – his number one challenger is Robert Brant – but it would seem, according to ESPN, that both Top Rank (Murata) and Golden Boy Promotions (Quigley) are keen to reward Quigley a title shot.
Quigley, 27, has boxed just the once this year but is undefeated in 14 pro fights – 11 coming inside the distance – and last time out chopped Daniel Rosario Cruz down to size in six rounds. Before that he outpointed Glen Tapia to win an NABF belt, his first pro title, and has so far had it pretty much his own way as a four-year professional.
Thirty-two-year-old Murata, meanwhile, is enjoying some of the best form of his life and, in April, managed to stop Emanuele Blandamura inside right rounds. He also has wins over Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Bruno Sandoval and George Tahdooahnippah, and boasts a pro record of 14-1 (11).
In addition to Quigley showing up in Vegas on October 20, Boxing News understands there’s a possibility Michael Conlan, Ireland’s popular 2016 Olympian, competes in his ninth pro fight on the same card.
