Fury says he'll 'smash Wilder's face in' as date for trilogy fight is agreed

The 32-year-old had looked set to be heading into an all-British heavyweight showdown against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia during August.

However, a legal ruling in the United States wrecked those plans, with an arbitration hearing upholding claims from Wilder that he was contractually owed a third fight with WBC champion Fury.

Joshua will now face Oleksandr Usyk in September, while Fury meets Wilder in their trilogy contest on July 24, which has been confirmed for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

"We're here and just hoping Deontay Wilder wants to fight to be honest, he's had a lot of talk and I'm ready for a war," Fury told talkSPORT's Adam Catteral and Gareth A. Davies.

"If he wants a throwdown today, he can have it. I'll smash his face right in.

"I'm in a right mood for Deontay Wilder today - I'll tell you that.

Fury says he hasn't let the inactivity of lockdown get him down as he insisted the last 18 months were some of the happiest of his life.

"I haven't been that upset about it, to be fair," he said. "I've been training, I've been doing my thing, living my life and enjoying the past 18 months.

"I think I've had the most positive 18 months of my whole life and it sounds crazy because I was supposed to fight a couple of times but it never happened. We get tested in life and it's about how you overcome them.

"I believe I've come out as a better person than what I was before when I went in. I'm more relaxed and I'm not pulling my beard out - I would pull my hair out but I don't have any!"

"I've had a productive 18 months and lots of time with my family, my friends, lots of barbecues. Thank God I'm alive in 2021 and I've got a big fight coming up which is very good to know. I've finally got a date.

"I'm here to do a job. I've been in America since April 10. I've definitely acclimatised to the time zone, that's for sure.

"I've bought a nice house out here for a training camp and I intend on staying here and fighting regularly, hopefully anyway."

Fury said the collapse of his fight with Joshua hasn't affected him as he insisted that 'everything happens for a reason'.

"I always said in a lot of interviews that I could fight Deontay Wilder," he added. "Don't write that off."

"There was always an arbitration case going on with the fight. Everyone knew about it.

"Everyone knew about it so it was what it was. The judge extended the contract when it was over and that was it."

"We're in this position now, am I bothered by it? Not really. Is it a blessing in disguise? Probably. Everything happens for a reason and I've believed that my whole life."

Fury is adamant it does not matter whether the bout with Wilder is a unification bout and that he'll simply fight 'whoever's available'.

"It's all bulls*** to me," he declared. "Whoever the fights are, who's available to fight, I'll fight. In regards to the undisputed and unified stuff, I've done all that.

"I did it with [Wladimir] Klitshko, the two-time world champion without being beat. I could rattle on about what I've done for two hours. We already know what I've done, we know who I am."

Speaking about Wilder specifically, Fury said he's not surprised the Bronze Bomber has come up with excuses for the loss in April 2020.

"I never had an opinion on him as I don't know him," he continued. "I know him as a fighter and I've never had a personal relationship with him so it's not for me to judge him on that.

"After being undefeated your whole career in 43 fights then getting smashed to pieces, I suppose you have to make up excuses in your own mind to convince yourself why it's happened and that's what he did.

"As a human being, I'm sure he's a top bloke and an adversary, a worthy one at that."

"He's definitely taking the fight and I'm hoping the fight happens. I'm never 100 per cent that it's going to happen until we're in the ring. I've said that many times and have been proven right many times. There's a lot of time between now and the next fight.

"Do I really believe he wants it? Of course he does, he wants his belts back and the chance to earn a hell of a lot of money again.

"He's trying to put that wrong right - what all humans do."