The World Boxing Council (WBC) have confirmed that Tyson Fury will not contest a rematch against heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in his next fight.
A second meeting between the pair was sanctioned in December, just days after Wilder retained the title he has held since 2015 in a thrilling bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California that was controversially ruled as a draw.
The rematch was expected to be announced for May after purse bids were delayed with the two sides said to be very close to an agreement, but matters then appeared to be complicated greatly as Fury signed an £80million deal with Top Rank and ESPN.
Wilder, meanwhile, has a deal with American network Showtime.
Concerns that the bout would be delayed were realised on Tuesday evening as WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman tweeted to claim that the organisation had been informed that Fury intended to fight someone else next before pursuing a second clash with Wilder further down the line.
"@BronzeBomber vs @Tyson_Fury is officially not happening next," he said. "The @WBCBoxing has received communications as our process and while WBC Champion Wilder confirmed its willingness to fight the rematch, Fury will take on another fight with expectations to do rematch at a later date."
Wilder reacted mockingly to the news on social media, referring to a tweet posted by Fury four days ago in which he implored the Bronze Bomber not to use "boxing politics" as an excuse not to fight him again.
"We knew you only said this bec[ause] you knew you wasn’t fighting me next," he wrote as part of a response to that original message, also laughing at the idea of Fury requesting a "warm-up fight first".
