Tyson Fury's proposed bout with Anthony Joshua on August 14th is in jeopardy as a court of arbitration ruled that Fury must face former opponent Deontay Wilder.
The court of arbitration has indicated that Fury and Wilder must take place before September 15th.
Fury reacted to the news on his Instagram account accusing the former WBC heavyweight champion of seeking a $20 million fee to step aside and allow the Joshua bout to proceed as planned.
"What a joke the Bronze Bomber has become," Fury said on social media on Tuesday.
"Asked for $20m to move over, joker.
"Looks like I have to [fight him] again."
Wilder has not competed since his TKO loss to Fury in February 2020. Since then he has parted ways from former trainer Mark Breland who threw in the towel during the fight as Wilder was hurt by Fury in the seventh round.
Breland has said that Wilder was "untrainable" in the lead-up to that fight and defended his decision to throw in the towel.
Wilder's newest coach, Malik Scott has commented on the situation stating that the American had no interest in a payment to step aside.
"Wilder declined and had no interest in step-aside money. Y'all dealing with a different type of motherf***er over her. He wants the blood, not that step-aside money. 'Retribution is upon us.'," Scott said.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USASo with all that said, is Joshua and Fury now off the cards?
Fury has already indicated that he may have to focus his attention elsewhere for the time being. Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has also said he hopes that the fight will go ahead but is not confident in that materialising.
"I hope. But am I hopeful? I don't know," Hearn said.
"We were told the arbitration wouldn't be a problem but obviously it is a problem.
We have to think on our feet. We have to act accordingly. We still hope the fight can go ahead but it is out of our hands."
If Fury is forced to face Wilder for the third time, Joshua may face Oleksandr Usyk, the mandatory challenger to Joshua's WBO heavyweight title and the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
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