Tyson Fury signs reported $103 million deal with ESPN

Undefeated heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury will be co-promoted by Top Rank, which means his next several fights will be on ESPN platforms.

In completely unexpected news on Monday, former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) confirmed in a press conference that he has signed a multi-fight deal to be co-promoted by Top Rank Boxing. He also renewed his contract to have his bouts shown in the United Kingdom on BT Sport.

Fury’s primary promoter is Frank Warren, whose Queensberry Promotions already has a close relationship with Top Rank to broadcast his events on ESPN+.

According to the BBC, it is a five-fight contract, and while financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, British media has widely reported that it’s worth £80 million, which is approximately $103 million US dollars based on current currency exchange rates.

In an official press release, Top Rank did confirm that Fury will have a minimum two fights per year in the United States, and that details of his debut will be announced soon.

‘I’m delighted that Frank and Queensberry Promotions have teamed up with Top Rank to promote my fights in America,” Fury said. “With ESPN and BT Sport behind me, the biggest sports platforms in the world are now linked up with the best heavyweight in the world!”

“This is a great move for Tyson Fury and a great move for Queensberry Promotions,” Warren said. “By partnering up with ESPN and Top Rank in America, we’re giving our boxers, including Tyson, the opportunity to perform on the biggest and most powerful platforms on both sides of the Atlantic and become truly global stars.”

Fury is coming off a thrilling split draw with Deontay Wilder last December, gaining fans by surviving a wicked 12th round knockdown to avoid getting knocked out by one of the hardest hitters in the sport. It’s an incredible career turnaround given how awful his win over Wladimir Klitschko was in 2015, along with his subsequent PED failure, mental health issues, substance abuse, and considerable weight gain. He won two tune-ups last year prior to the Wilder bout, losing 100+ lbs along the way, and now he’s got himself a mega-deal with ESPN.

The timing of this sure is interesting, as it was only a few days ago that there was belief that a deal for a Wilder vs. Fury rematch would be made for May 18th. What does this mean for the status of that fight, especially since Wilder is affiliated with PBC (FOX/Showtime)? Wilder’s co-manager, Shelly Finkel, seems hopeful the bout can still be made.

“We are hoping to make the fight and figure out how with this new relationship they have with ESPN that it can be done. I would want to try to make it with Showtime and ESPN (working together),” Finkel said to ESPN. “(Haymon) wants to make the fight and that whatever is realistic will get done.”

The WBC has twice postponed a purse bid — a purse bid is where the highest-bidding promoter gets rights to promoting the fight — as signs pointed towards Wilder vs. Fury being close to a done deal. We’ll see if the fight remains intact or if stupid boxing politics delays this matchup.

Needless to say, as my Bloody Elbow colleague John Nash put it, the heavyweight division is the money division once again.