So much changed for Tyson Fury in an instant.
One minute he’s set to fight British rival Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Aug. 14 in Saudi Arabia. The next minute he’s taking on Deontay Wilder a third time on July 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Wilder’s reaction to the upheavel? It doesn’t matter.
“I’m just a fighting man,” he said during the Josh Taylor-Jose Ramirez telecast Saturday on ESPN, which showed a clip of him signing the contract to fight Wilder. “I just want to fight, no matter if it’s Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder. Whatever it is, I want to fight.”
Fury hasn’t fought since he brutally stopped Wilder in seven rounds in February of last year, their second meeting. In the contract for that bout was a rematch clause, which an arbitrator ruled was binding.
That spoiled the immediate plans for a Fury-Josh fight and put Wilder back on center stage. Fury doesn’t know why Wilder would want to tangle with him again but he knows what will happen in the ring.
“I think he’ll give it a good roll of the dice,” Fury said of Wilder. “This is his last hurrah. [But] I’ve got his heart, his soul, his mojo, everything of Deontay Wilder. Every bit of substance of Deontay Wilder I have right here in my pocket. I’ve carried it around with me for the last 18 months.
“… He’s an idiot. He got absolutely dismantled and smashed to bits in our last fight and he wants it all over again. He told people I’ve cracked his skull, I’ve injured his shoulder, I’ve done his biceps. But yet he wants to get in there with me again.
“He’s one of two things: He’s either crazy or a sucker for punishment.”
He added: “Obviously I’ve got to beat up Deontay Wilder a bit better than I did last time because he didn’t get a good enough hiding last time. So this time I’ll really double, triple smash him.”
Did Fury ever consider agreeing to pay Wilder to step aside so he could fight Joshua immediately?
“Hell no,” he said. “I pay in ass whoopins. Ass whoopins is what I pay in.”
Then, if he wins, he’ll set his sights on Joshua.
“Yeah,” he said, “100 percent.”