DEONTAY WILDER was ‘thrilled’ after learning that Tyson Fury would have to face him again this summer.
And the Bronze Bomber is desperate to further ‘derail’ plans for a Battle of Britain heavyweight unification bout between Fury and Anthony Joshua.
The pair had been all set to fight on August 14, before the arbitrator ruled that Fury must face Wilder again, within 24 hours of the announcement.
The former WBC champion, 35, was well beaten by the Gypsy King last February, having been fortunate to clinch a draw in the pair’s first meeting in 2018.
But he will have a third crack at Fury on July 24, after an arbitration court ruled that the Morecambe puncher must face him again this summer.
Wilder has been quiet on the matter, but his co-manager Shelly Finkel has opened up on the American’s state of mind going into the summer.
He told Sky Sports: “Just thrilled. It was just phenomenal.
“It was a great, great feeling. There’s a parable about the dog with the bone.
“The big bone was Saudi Arabia, and you end up with nothing. [Bob] Arum [Fury’s promoter] wants it in July, because they believe Fury is just going to walk through Deontay, and then they can get that fight on with Joshua, provided he beats Usyk in the fall.
“That’s what their game-plan is obviously, but we aim to derail that. We’ll see.”
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Eddie Hearn and Bob Arum are both keen to get the fight between Fury and AJ on for December – provided Joshua also beats Oleksandr Usyk.
Finkel, 76, went on to reveal that Wilder’s camp never even received an offer to step aside.
He added: “We never looked for a step aside or anything.
“But on my logic, if it were me, and I were in Eddie’s shoes and there’s. Before the decision, I’m looking at 150 million, plus PPV, plus international TV, whatever. Probably looking close to 200 million.
“What would it take to say, ‘Hey guys, there is a chance we’ll lose, so instead of making 200 million, let’s offer them something and see if they’re interested?’
“It never came to that. It’s just silly. If it were me, I would have spoke to my fighter, and said, ‘Look, instead of making 100 million, make 90.’
“A lot more than he’s going to make to fight Usyk, for sure and we hope to disrupt the party.”
