Barry Hearn, founder of Matchroom, has serious doubts that a Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder trilogy fight will come off as planned.

Fury captured the WBC heavyweight title back in February, after stopping Wilder in seven rounds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

After that defeat, Wilder exercised an immediate rematch clause -forcing a trilogy fight in the matter.

Both heavyweights are guaranteed very significant purses in the third fight.

And that's why Barry Hearn believes it may not come off - as the coronavirus pandemic, which currently prevents mass gatherings in most countries, makes it very difficult to stage a fight of that magnitude.

"I can’t see Tyson Fury fighting Deontay Wilder," Barry Hearn told Talk Sport. “The reason being, this is all pre-COVID don’t forget, they’ve lost a fortune promoting Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in the past.

"They’ve now given them a new deal where they’ve got to fight again. That was based on values of 12 months ago when, in boxing, there was a lot of money out there and everyone was going crazy and spending big purses. I don’t think the people involved can actually afford to do Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder on the original terms that were set out, in today’s world. If that’s the case, the fighters have got two choices. One, not to fight, or two, to take much reduced fight purses.

“For a fight where if Deontay lands on Tyson it could upset the apple cart for hundreds of millions of dollars down the road, that’s the interesting scenario. They’ve done this deal between [Bob] Arum, [Frank] Warren and whoever else is involved, there seems to be so many people these days, but it’s Arum and Warren as the co-promoters. I don’t believe they can afford the losses they will make currently to do that fight on the terms originally agreed."

However, Wilder's contract clause guarantees him the third meeting - regardless of the financial consequences.

Fury's co-promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, already has a plan in place.

He's targeting dates in November or December - far enough away that certain locations may allow spectators by that time period.

Arum wants to stage that fight in a large stadium, like the new 65,000 seat venue in Las Vegas for the NFL's Raiders - where Arum can pack in 25,000 fans and have social distancing in place by spreading the audience out.