Tyson Fury’s multi-million-pound heavyweight reunification fight with Anthony Joshua has been thrown in doubt after a judge ordered Fury to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time.
Fury and Joshua are provisionally scheduled to meet in the ring on August 14 in Saudi Arabia.
But on Monday night an arbitration hearing ruled that Fury must first fight Wilder by September 15 with the American having successfully argued he had a legal right for the final part of their fight trilogy.
The repercussions for Joshua-Fury are not yet known although, with the magnitude of that fight, it is hoped that Wilder and his camp can be persuaded to step aside courtesy of hefty financial remuneration.
The first of two proposed meetings between Joshua and Fury has reportedly seen Saudi Arabian authorities put forward in excess of £100million to host the fight, with pay-per-view numbers set to make it the richest fight in boxing history.
Fury and Wilder first met in December 2018 with the bout controversially ruled a draw before a rematch in February last year, which Fury won with a seventh-round knock-out.
A third bout had long been mooted and then delayed by Covid before Fury walked away from talks, necessitating the mediation hearing.
