Deontay Wilder confirms Tyson Fury fight will happen before the end of the year

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has confirmed that he will fight former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury later this year.

Fury will fight Francesco Pianeta on the undercard of Carl Frampton's WBO interim featherweight title defence against Luke Jackson in Belfast later this month and he's apparently close to sealing a deal to fight the undefeated American sometime in November or December.

“Whatever date that suits us best, that’s the date we’ll go with,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com. “But people should know that this fight is happening. It will happen. We just can’t wait. We can’t wait to announce it and get it on. “It could be wrapped up next week. Or it could be wrapped up [Friday]. We’re that close. This has been the easiest negotiation I’ve ever been in, dealing with a fight of this magnitude. That just lets you know this fight will happen. I don’t see nothing that will stop this fight from happening, nothing at all.”

Fury told Behind the Gloves earlier this week that the fight would take place in Las Vegas sometime in December.

“Las Vegas is the destination, so I’ve been told. December is the month, 2018 is the year.

”It’s going to be a massive boxing event. You’ve got two of the biggest heavyweights in the world, the tallest with the biggest mouths. One from America, one from the United Kingdom. It’s going to be an epic battle.”