Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II, billed as Unfinished Business, is an upcoming heavyweight professional boxing rematch between undefeated and reigning WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated former unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring, and lineal champion Tyson Fury, for the WBC and vacant The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles. The first fight ended in a controversial split draw. The fight will be jointly promoted by the both American Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, Bob Arum’s Top Rank and a British Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. The event will take place on February 22, 2020 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada.
Unfinished Business
WilderFury2
Date
February 22, 2020
Venue
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line
WBC, vacant The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer
United States Deontay Wilder
United Kingdom Tyson Fury
Nickname
The Bronze Bomber
Gypsy King
Hometown
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Manchester, England, UK
Pre-fight record
42–0–1 (41 KO)
29–0–1 (20 KO)
Height
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Style
Orthodox
Orthodox
Recognition
WBC heavyweight champion
Former unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight champion
Contents
Background E
The fight is a rematch after the controversial split decision draw between Wilder and Fury on December 1, 2018. After the bout, there were calls for an immediate rematch. The WBC announced in February 2019 that there would not be an immediate rematch as Fury signed a contract with ESPN and Top Rank that meant the negotiations would be more difficult as the rematch would be a co-promotion, of which there had only been two before: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002 and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015.[5]
As the rematch was delayed, Fury and Wilder both scheduled fights for the interim. On May 18, 2019, Wilder faced Dominic Breazeale (20-1, 18 KOs) and recorded a first-round KO. A few weeks later on June 15, 2019, Fury took on Tom Schwarz (24-0, 16 KOs) and scored a second-round TKO. Fury followed this stoppage win with a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Otto Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs) on September 14, 2019. Wilder then had a rematch with Luis Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) on November 23, 2019, and won by seventh-round KO.
Both Fury and Wilder called each other out after their fights, and the rematch was officially announced on December 27, 2019 for February 22, 2020 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Broadcasting
On December 27, 2019, due to the fighters’ respective television rights being held by the two networks, it was announced that the United States pay-per-view of the fight will be a joint production of ESPN (Top Rank rightsholder) and Fox Sports (PBC rightsholder). Top Rank owner Bob Arum stated that there were provisional plans for a six-match preliminary undercard that would be split between Top Rank and PBC, with separate telecasts on an ESPN network and a Fox Sports network to air their respective half of the card (although exact broadcast details have yet to be announced).
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