Bob Arum backs Australia for Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury III
Legendary promoter Bob Arum has the backing of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury to hold their third fight in Australia.
Legendary promoter Bob Arum has the backing of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury to hold their third fight in Australia, but says the final decision will rest on whether the government allows spectators to attend sporting events by the end of the year.
Dean Lonergan, promoter of former world champion Jeff Horn, has put a proposal to Arum to bring Wilder and Fury to Australia to complete their trilogy, most likely to fight at Bankwest Stadium on Boxing Day.
Arum, who helped bring Manny Pacquiao to Australia to fight Horn two years ago, confirmed there was a genuine possibility that Lonergan could get his wish.
“I talked with the Wilder people — they are all in on it,” Arum said. “As long as you do it around noon in Australia, that is prime time back in the United States. We did the Pacquiao-Horn fight that way.
“We are working through everything but in essence we have to do it this year and the question then is will Australia, which seems like they have the coronavirus under control, would they allow an event with a full stadium.
“It is a real, real possibility. Again, there is so much involved that is usually not involved in planning an event because of this virus.”
Arum, who famously promoted Muhammad Ali and was responsible for organising the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, also confirmed they were exploring Macau as a potential destination for the fight.
The challenge for Lonergan is to convince the federal and state governments to throw open the gates for spectators.
If he can do that, Arum confirmed there was nothing to stop the bout taking place in Australia. Lonergan is likely to test the interest from the Queensland and Victorian governments but Sydney is the short-priced favourite to host the bout.
More than 35,000 spectators could cram into Bankwest Stadium on Boxing Day for the “Slugfest in Sydney”, or better yet the “Slugfest at Bankwest”.
The fight would attract worldwide interest given the way the first two bouts played out.
The pair drew their first encounter in 2018 before Fury battered Wilder in the rematch earlier this year — both fighters were guaranteed $US28m ($40m) for that fight as well as a share of the pay-per-view earnings.
“We will get a better idea sometime early August,” Arum said.
“He (Lonergan) is not going to have answers before that. There is a lot more planning than usual. For example, we have to look at whether the travel ban is lifted.
“In other words, can we freely fly to Australia from the United States. We are encouraged that somehow the Moloney brothers (Andrew and Jason) flew over from Aussie and they are living in Las Vegas and fighting at the end of June.
“There are a lot of factors that are new because of the coronavirus situation.
“In essence, one of the things that Dean has to sort out with the government is whether at that point in time, they would allow a live audience.
“The reason we are even looking outside the United States is because there is no assurance at all that we would be able to do an event before a live audience even in the fourth quarter of this year.”
Arum is a self-confessed fan of Australia thanks to his trip to the country with Pacquiao, and then subsequently when Horn fought Gary Corcoran.
Asked whether the Fury camp were also on board, Arum said: “Absolutely, I know that for a fact. Doing an event out of Australia at the time works for the US market. Most of the revenue would be on pay-per-view.
“We are exploring Macau and a problem with Macau is …. will the Chinese government allow a packed arena to watch an event in November-December.
“I love Australia. The Aussies are great fans and great people.”
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