If former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and promoter Frank Warren are telling the truth, negotiations have begun for a December bout with WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder that would go a long way in easing the pain for fans of Wilder's negotiations with unified champion Anthony Joshua falling apart. 

Fury (26-0, 19 KOs) posted a video Monday on Twitter in which he confirmed the fight was "very close to being done," even though Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) nor co-managers Al Haymon and Shelly Finkel have publicly confirmed. 

"I've got to flatten [Francesco Pianeta] first but then Wilder, let's dance," Fury said. "You have been dealing with sh--houses in the past like [Joshua promoter] Eddie Hearn and Joshua but I am a man of me word and if I say I'll fight, I'll fight you. End of."

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Fury, who turns 30 in two weeks, has fought just once in the three years since he outpointed Wladimir Klitschko to win a trio of heavyweight titles that he vacated less than one year later due to mental health and substance abuse issues. 

The native of England, who has shed nearly 120 pounds over the past year, returned in June to stop journeyman Sefer Seferi and is scheduled to face the lightly-regarded Pianetta, a former title challenger, on Aug. 18 in Belfast. Fury, who weighed in at a career-low 246 pounds against Klitschko, was still visibly heavy against Seferi and came in at 276. 

Warren broke the news that talks of a Wilder-Fury fight were underway during a radio appearance on British outlet talkSPORT on Monday. 

"First of all, we want to see what [Fury] looks like on Aug. 18," Warren said. "Hopefully he will come through it well but reports from the gym are that he's looking well. 

"He's the lineal champion. He's the guy who hasn't been beaten. He lost his belt outside the ring. I'm pretty confident we can make it happen. It takes two to make a deal, and if you really want to make a deal, you will make it happen."

It's difficult to know the validity of said talks as both sides, in theory, could be using the discussions as publicity in order to gain leverage in any future negotiations with Joshua and Hearn. One thing that is certain is the fight would be an anticipated one, offering Wilder a shot at the only thing -- Fury's lineal crown -- he could attain in order to one-up Joshua, who holds the remaining three recognized heavyweight titles without actually beating him. 

Joshua (20-0, 19 KOs) returns on Sept. 22 when he defends against mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin and has pushed off Wilder talks until 2019. Hearn, meanwhile, has publicly said he plans to offer Wilder as much as $8 million to fight former Joshua victim (and amateur rival) Dillian Whyte in November.

Fury went on to tell BT Sport later in the day that he'd be willing to fight Wilder anywhere

"I'll fight Deontay Wilder in America, I'll fight Anthony Joshua in London. I'm not afraid to go abroad, I've been abroad before on the road," Fury said. "It is what it is. It takes someone like me to go over and beat someone up, doesn't it? Because at the minute the Americans are showing the British up rotten. The Brits are running away scared and there's only me who's saying, 'Right, I'll have to fight him.' 

"If I'm ready, I'm ready and if I'm not, I'm not. I can't have him calling us over here p——— and everybody in America saying, 'Them British guys don't really fight, blah, blah, blah.' I'll go over to America and I'll fight him and I'll knock him spark out. I can't say it any fairer than that."