In the very latest twist involving the best heavyweights in the world, Tyson Fury will no longer fight Anthony Joshua in August after a court ruled that the Englishman must fight Deontay Wilder first. In essence, the ruling came down to Fury being forced to honor his contractual obligations with Wilder, with their prior agreement stating that the loser of their match in February 2020 was entitled to an immediate rematch. Unsurprisingly or surprisingly, depending on your thoughts on the gulf in class between the two boxers, Wilder threw his time into legal challenges. This has certainly paid off now that the courts have ruled that Fury must fight him first.
The news will come as a blow to boxing fans all over the world after they were finally given the fight they wanted to see the most. Indeed, the match-up between Joshua and Fury had the potential to be the biggest in the history of the sport. There was a particular degree of frustration in the Middle East and Asia after Saudi Arabia had agreed to pay $150 million in order to host the fight in the kingdom. The Saudis Hopes Are Dashed
The site fee that the Saudis were willing to pay was seen as a huge marketing drive for the Middle Eastern country in order to increase its exposure and also boxing in the region. The size of the financial outlay from the Saudis was large but when you consider how untapped boxing in Asia is, it begins to make complete financial sense. Punters just need to look at this list of the best boxing betting sites in India, provided by asiabet.org, for example, to understand the demand for the sport on the world's biggest continent. There are that many betting sites that comparison sites like this one have experts recommending the best ones, which reflects the ever-growing fan base.
Simply put, the appetite for boxing in Asia is insatiable and the news that Fury and Joshua won’t be heading there this year will be tough to take for millions of fans. Instead, the eyes of the world will be 8,000 miles away and focused on Las Vegas on the 24th of July for the trilogy fight between Wilder and Fury. Now for the million-dollar question, has the American finally figured out how to beat a man who comprehensively outboxed him 15 months ago?
The truth is that we will find out in good time but Wilder has shared a few updates on his Instagram page which does give one the impression that he is working around the clock to find a way of coping with Fury’s unrivaled boxing prowess. Indeed, revenge is on the agenda for Wilder and he's searching down every avenue to find out how best to administer it. Intriguingly, there seems to be a departure from the big-hitting one-punch wonder style that has been so effective for Wilder in the past after being drastically outclassed by Fury in early 2020.
In the Cold Light of Day
During the post-analysis of that fight, Wilder would have had to come to terms with some inescapable truths regarding his style. The long and short of it was that he was never going to beat a fully fit Fury by trying to land vicious haymaker after vicious haymaker. The 32-year-old Englishman is all too crafty for that type of strategy as the results showed. A destructive seventh-round TKO would have hurt Wilder’s pride and forced him to virtually reinvent himself as a boxer if he was ever going to overcome this hurdle in his career.
The Need for Closure
This rivalry has given us the good, the bad, and the ugly, as asianboxing.info recaps here, but the time has come for closure as well. A Fury win would draw a line under this ongoing saga and convince even the most ardent Wilder fan that the Englishman is indeed a better boxer. That seems to be the groundswell of opinion, in any case. After the courts ruled that they have to do battle for the third time, many boxing fans see the bout as a waste of time and the result a foregone conclusion. In reality, who can disagree with that summation?
Deontay Wilder’s challenge is an astronomical one that would require a lifetime of preparation to conquer, not 15 months
1 Comment
Great post! The topic you covered is something that many people can relate to. I really liked how you approached it from a different perspective and provided fresh insights. It's clear that you've done your research and have a deep understanding of the subject matter.
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