The World Boxing Council has sanctioned a “direct rematch” between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.
Their fight ended in a highly controversial draw with many questioning the judging panel’s decision, and both have said they want a rematch, while Fury is pushing for it to be in the UK.
The WBC released a statement saying there was a ‘unanimous agreement’ to sanction a rematch in a meeting of the board of governors.
It read:
Wilder and Fury gave boxing one of the best fights in the heavyweight division in a long time, which has created tremendous popular demand for the fans to see a rematch.
The WBC is happy to confirm a direct rematch has been approved.
According to BBC Sport, Wilder’s mandatory challenger is Dominic Breazeale but this decision by the WBC clears the way for him to fight Fury again next without being stripped of his belt.
On Saturday (December 1), it had been widely believed Wilder was behind on points, despite knocking the Gypsy King down twice, but the judges were split on the result.
However, now the American boxer has claimed he broke his arm just 12 weeks before he began training for the fight .
As reported by talkSPORT, Wilder told reporters in LA about the break, explaining that he kept it quiet up until now.
He said:
Twelve weeks before camp I broke my [right] arm. We kept that a secret. I had surgery and everything. All the way up here I got cut.
I was sparring, just getting ready and I was getting the best of my sparring partner. I was going to the body and he turned. His elbow was out. My bones and his elbow went in like a hammer to a nail and it just broke it.
Writing on Instagram, the WBC Heavyweight champion said:
It was an amazing fight and I wanted nothing but greatness to come from this. The fight lived up to the hype more than ever. When you put the best against the best, exciting things happens. [sic] I take nothing away from this fight but we won this fight.
To beat the champion you must dominate the champ and to me I was the more aggressive fighter and landed the more affective [sic] punches. You saw the best fury but you did not get the best Wilder and I still managed to get the job done.
He added:
The ref #Jack Reiss is an amazing ref in which I’ve had the pleasure to work with on several occasions and he did a great job and at the end of the day boxing wins, the fans are the real winner and I can’t wait for Wilder Fury 2.
To end the controversial talk around the world once and for all!
So, it’s on!
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