Tyson Fury is certain that there’s a record-breaking appetite for a fourth fight between himself and Deontay Wilder.
The pair first fought to a controversial draw, with Fury then cementing his superiority with two knockouts in the next two bouts. The rivalry made Fury WBC Champion of the World and provided fans with some of the most exciting heavyweight entertainment of recent years.
Speaking to Queensberry Promotions, Fury addressed the idea that Wilder may soon be in line for a shot at his old belt. ‘The Gypsy King’ would make it happen, but on home turf this time.
“I’m not going back over to American to fight him. I’ve been over there three times now. So, providing he gets through that fight and I get through mine – and if the Usyk fight can’t be made in February, then I’ll have a mandatory by April. He’ll have to come to Wembley. April … Would people want to watch that again? I already beat him three times though would people want to see a fourth fight? Course they would, son, course they would!”
Fury went on to predict how the fight would go, not in a physical sense, but a commercial one.
“We’d break all records in the UK with that fight. 94,000 [in the stadium.] We’d do three or four million pay-per-view buys. Happy days.”
Considering Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko is reported to have sold 1.5 million pay-per-views, even the shorter end of Fury’s prediction is ambitious. In fact, only Floyd Mayweather has reached those heights. ‘Money’s fight with Manny Pacquiao was beamed into 4.6 million homes, his Conor McGregor bout 4.3, and the Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez was purchased by 2.2.
The second fight between ‘The Gypsy King’ and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ is said to have sold 850,000 PPVs. According to Yahoo Sports journalist, Kevin Iole, the trilogy fight did 600,000 in the States with a further 300,000 coming from overseas – likely mostly Fury’s UK fans who would have had to wake up at (or stay up until) around 4AM to tune in.
There’s no doubting that their third instalment was thrilling from start to finish, with many fans including it in their list of greatest ever heavyweight fights. Having said that, would a fourth perform as well as the champion thinks? It’s impossible to say never without evidence, but remains highly unlikely.