Why Tyson Fury holds the key to the heavyweight stand-off with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder

This is a tale of a contract, a fight boxing wants, a fight boxing is unlikely to get, a maverick boxer and enough mystery, secrecy, lies and fake news to make it all seem just about feasible.

Deontay Wilder is unbeaten in 40 fights, has stopped or knocked out 39 of his victims and holds the WBC version of the heavyweight title. In New York his management team have put together a deal for him to fight Anthony Joshua, the unbeaten heavyweight with the IBF, WBA and WBO versions of the title in his closet and three consecutive sell-out fights at outdoor venues.

There is a contract out there somewhere for the boxers to sign, a contract that talks about seemingly obscene amounts of money, a contract with a rematch clause and a lot of other stuff that people in the boxing business have taken to speculating about. It seems that the contract is fact, but the details have, during the last few weeks, taken on a fairy tale quality, part invention and fantasy.

Wilder and Joshua are not fighting each other anytime soon and they can each blame the other for the fight not taking place. The men and women in the Wilder and Joshua business have each taken to lofty statements and both battling, bitter and vicious sides have rejoiced at the impasse with claims of increasingly excessive improbability. Fights fail to happen, it’s part of the boxing game and not some extreme political dilemma requiring a summit to solve; somebody will offer more money, make less demands and then the fight will happen.

Meanwhile, Joshua is fighting one of his mandatory challengers, Alexander Povetkin, at Wembley stadium on 22 September and there will be 90,000 packed in on the night. That is a fact and it is a good fight, perhaps not as good as a meeting with Wilder, but certainly not a mismatch or walkover. Joshua continues to wander through the glittering halls of lavish endorsements, attaching gold to his back for a few minutes of smiles and handshakes – he is an industry, Wilder is a just an entertaining banger.

Wilder has to select from a couple of opponents for his next defence and the list is not terribly distinguished; the venue, when selected, will probably hold less than 10 per cent of the figure Joshua will do. Wilder is not yet a major attraction in America, where heavyweights have been replaced during the last two decades by tiny fighting men from Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and domestic masters of defence. That is a sad fact and Wilder, to give him credit, is on a hard, one-man mission to get the American heavyweight scene breathing again. Sadly, beating Dominic Breazeale or once again knocking out Luis Ortiz will not sparkle, will not increase the tempo on the revolution. A narrative to sell the fight will be exhumed from a forgotten place, polished and sent gleaming forward dressed as a viable alternative for Wilder.

Luckily, there is the looming tower of Tyson Fury, his fists, his quips and his record in the ring to help keep Wilder relevant here; Fury wants Wilder, Wilder wants Fury and the men behind both boxers, and various ancient fixers from the industry, insist it can happen. It would be a fabulous alternative, a date in November that would eclipse every other fight in the British boxing calendar this year.

Fury fights next week in Belfast and, for his second fight in 33 months, the opposition has increased and his waistline has decreased. Fury has promised to jettison the chuckle routine, get serious, get fit and flatten Francesco Pianeta, who sounds exotic enough to come in three flavours, as quick as possible. There are those in the sport who believe a Wilder fight is too soon and others who think it is ideal; boxing is never short of extremes on either side of the ropes.

A slimmer, nastier and faster Fury in Belfast would convince me that the risk – it is a real risk – in fighting Wilder this side of Christmas is one worth taking. Fury at his regal best, the man that boxed wondrous circles round Wladimir Klitschko in late 2015 and broke Big Wlad’s head and heart with the last flawless heavyweight performance, beats Wilder. That heavyweight also beats any version of Joshua, but that heavyweight might have evaporated somewhere between the halo of glory in Dusseldorf that night, and the endless days Fury spends now in Ricky Hatton’s gym searching for that lost man.

It is a truly magnificent heavyweight world where Fury wins, Wilder has to make a decision and Joshua just keeps piling up the coin until that day, that afternoon in a room somewhere, when two of their three signatures are scrawled in relief and joy across one piece of paper. Signed, sealed and delivered, but not just yet.