Frank Warren reveals Deontay Wilder needs to be paid off to allow Tyson Fur to fight Anthony Joshua

Frank Warren has revealed it could cost up to $20million (£14m) to get Deontay Wilder to step aside so Tyson Fury can fight Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight crown.

Fury and Joshua’s blockbuster Battle of Britain finally got the green light to be staged in Saudi Arabia on August 14 but was on Monday night plunged into doubt after a judge ruled that Wilder had a contractual obligation to a third fight with the Gypsy King.

Wilder, who was stripped of his WBC world title by Fury last February, triggered a rematch clause in the immediate aftermath before their trilogy fight collapsed in the winter owing to their teams’ failure to settle upon a date.

Anthony Joshua’s fight with Tyson Fury has been plunged into doubt due to legal reasons

It was ruled that Fury (left) must have a trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder (right) by September

Fury’s promoter Warren has now admitted he cannot confirm if the long-awaited fight with Joshua to determine this planet’s best heavyweight will happen next until an agreement has been made with Wilder.  

‘It is really simple now Tyson now either goes immediately to the fight with Deontay Wilder or we try to reach and accommodation with Wilder,’ Warren told BBC radio’s Today show.

‘To use a phrase in boxing ‘step aside’ to allow the fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fight to take place.

‘I’m sure he’ll (Wilder) will want as much as possible but that is going to be about a negotiation if we go down that road.

‘It will cost quite a bit of money. Until we reach an accommodation with Wilder’s people I can’t say the fight will definitely happen.

‘But we are working hard to get that over the line. We were talking last night. If we can’t get it done Tyson will go to the fight with Wilder.

‘They are the only two options. The arbitrator says that Tyson has a contractual commitment and he has to fulfill that. He is tied up legally.

‘I expect common sense will prevail so we are going to try and make the fight between AJ and Tyson. That is the fight everyone wants to see.

Promoter Frank Warren has admitted they will have to pay Wilder off to get him to step aside

Wilder could be compensated up to $20million (£14m) to walk away from Fury trilogy fight

‘We are going to do our best to get it over the line. That is what everyone has been working towards for a long time now.

‘There is a cut off point one when a decision has to be made and which direction Tyson goes in.

‘I hope Deontay will accept less than $20million (£14m).’

Fury finds himself in a complicated position after a legal mediator in the US ruled that he must go through with his contracted trilogy fight with Wilder by September after months of mulling over the issue.

It came just as Fury and Joshua’s lawyers had approved the contracts for their money-spinning showdown this autumn while written guarantees for the two giants of the British ring to receive $45 million each from the Saudi Arabian hosts for their August 14 spectacular were finally forthcoming.

Fury destroyed Wilder to strip him of his WBC world title in their rematch last February

Promoter Bob Arum (right) is expecting Fury left) to be released from the trilogy fight

Bob Arum, Fury’s US promoter, came off a conference call with his UK partner Warren and their legal teams to announce here: ‘Now the fight is definitely on.’ So ended months of wrangling.

Arum is expecting a mediating judge to release Fury from his contracted trilogy fight with Wilder, even if that involves compensation for the American power puncher from whom the Gypsy King took the WBC world title.

Agreement has also been reached in principle for a rematch, with Arum saying; ‘That is likely to be in December under the roof of the stadium in Cardiff.’

The purses for Fury and Joshua are expected to rise closer to their original expectation of $100 million each through pay per view TV rights shared in the UK between BT Sport and Sky Sports.

Arum has said a provisional stand by date for Fury v Wilder has been held for some time for July 24 in the United States.