Deontay Wilder tells Tyson Fury he has lost his American fans
Tyson Fury has been slammed by Deontay Wilder for dodging a rematch of their epic world heavyweight title fight and warned him that the American fans he won over on that epic night will now have turned against him for good.
After their dramatic draw last December, WBC king Wilder had looked set to meet the Briton and former Lineal champ Fury in a rematch, citing that the fight was definitely going to happen.
But then a dramatic U-turn fromm Fury saw the 'Gypsy King' sign a huge deal with American broadcasters ESPN and promoter Top Rank.
Instead of another crack at the 'Bronze Bomber', he is now facing Tom Schwarz, a little-known German, in Las Vegas on June 15. Fury's promoter Frank Warren was always unhappy about returning to the States following the first decision that he believed should have been awarded to Fury.
“He will have to suffer the backlash from the people," warned the unbeaten American.
“That is one thing Americans don’t like is you say you want to fight nothing but the best then, when it is a controversial fight, you get the rematch and you run.
"Him dodging me and not taking that rematch is going to mess up his profile in America.
"Everything he gained in our fight he lost. I hope he is aware of that. He is in for a rude awakening.”
Fury had said previously that he only wanted Wilder next, "I ain't interested in fighting number 10, number eight, number three, number two – I only want the best. so I want Deontey Wilder next."
Wilder initially reacted on social media with, "You sorry a** motha******!" directed straight to Tyson.
Wilder turned down an £80million, three-fight deal with DAZN last month which would have paved the way for a clash with IBF, WBA and WBO champion Anthony Joshua.
The American is sticking with US broadcaster Showtime for now and will defend his WBC belt against Dominic Breazeale on May 18.
He added: “I think the Joshua fight will happen but I don’t know if it will happen in the next year. They said they want the fight in 2020. If they really wanted the fight it would have happened a long time ago.”
Former long-reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko's name has also been touted for a comeback against Wilder, but the American dismissed any chance of that fight happening, "Klitschko can only live off his name for so long. I don't think he'll want that fight, to be honest, in my opinion. Klitschko had many times to challenge me in the past."