Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn has claimed that he was left shocked by American judge Daniel Weinstein’s ruling that Tyson Fury is obliged to face Deontay Wilder for a third time, a development that has thrown this summer’s highly-anticipated unification bout between the ‘Gypsy King’ and Anthony Joshua into uncertainty. The all-British fight, set to take place in Saudi Arabia in mid-August, has been in the works for a number of months but official confirmation from both sides is yet to be delivered.
The victor would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999, but the likelihood of a summer event now appears to be under serious threat.
It was decided on Monday evening in a US civil court that Fury owes Wilder a third fight, as per the contractual clause agreed upon before the pair went toe-to-toe on two occasions.
The issue was not expected to pose a significant problem with regards to the Joshua bout, but the surprise ruling appears to have dashed any plans for an imminent showdown.
Hearn, who has been vocal in his aims to engineer the fight as of late, reacted to the news by conceding that both Fury and Joshua will be forced to wait to see what comes of the unfortunate situation.
“It was a shock to the system,” Hearn told DAZN Boxing on Tuesday afternoon.
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“These negotiations have been going on for three or four months now and we were always assured that this [Wilder’s court hearing] wouldn’t be a problem. We have to see now where they go with it.”
With Fury potentially tied up until at least the end of 2021 in light of Monday’s verdict, Joshua once again finds himself staring at the prospect of a mandatory WBO title defence against Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian has been tipped to face the Watford-born fighter on a number of previous occasions and could finally get his wish if Fury’s trilogy bout with Wilder goes ahead.
Hearn continued, suggesting that Usyk will be next in line if the aforementioned situation is not resolved within the next few days.
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“The only fight we had our minds on was Tyson Fury, and we hope that fight can still take place on August 14th,” added Hearn.
“The game changed last night where we have to have a Plan B in place, and probably a Plan C, and we have a couple of different options. The one that springs to mind immediately is the WBO mandatory, Oleksandr Usyk.
“They’ve been quite patient and I think we’re in a situation now where if Team Fury don’t get their act together by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight.
“AJ wants to fight this summer. Oleksandr Usyk is the mandatory. We have two or three other options as well.”
Meanwhile, Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk has already spoken of his delight at the result of Wilder’s hearing, stressing that Joshua is running out of reasons to snub a fight with the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
“There is no other reasonable excuse for AJ now,” Krassyuk told Sky Sports on Tuesday morning.
“If he is not avoiding Usyk, it is high time to face the mandatory! Two London Olympic champions to face each other, nine years later. What a story.
“We are now in the position to make the fight happen as soon as possible.”