I don't watch Sky Sports News really. And I read the papers every day. I've no doubt people are talking about Fury, but in the context of him being in a big fight last weekend. A guy who's transcended the sport to the extent that he deserves comparisons with Ali would presumably also have more people watching his fights. He was booed out of the ring last time and this fight did smaller numbers than Khan Maidana over here. Hardly the stuff expected with a global superstar. I'm not a hater here by the way. Just again, struggling to believe just how much praise Fury is getting. Someone who didn't know otherwise would assume he was the biggest name in the sport. He's nowhere near that.
Fury pre life crisis and post life crisis are two different animals for sure. Rightly or wrongly, he gained popularity during his absence. He sold out a big arena for his comeback fight and done almost 900k live views on BT. Huge numbers on both counts for a bum opponent. The Pianetta fight was what it was, a tune up for a superfight with Wilder in America. Fury took to America like a duck to water. He went over there with a clean slate and squeezed every bit of exposure he could. The openess about the mental health stuff gained him huge popularity and without his promotion during the whole build up, the fight wouldn't have got near 320k ppv's. 320k ppv's at $75 is a big deal in America and that was before the epic fight that took place. In addition to this, social media in the UK exploded like never before. Ironically, being put on his arse in the 12th could be the best thing that ever happened him. A rematch with Wilder would sell out any stadium in Britain and Ireland. It would sell out any of the big boxing arenas in America and accumulate at least 1 million buys between the UK and America. It's huge. The big pessimist wouldn't deny those figures. They're Anthony Joshua figures. Of course they are only projections as of now and no one is saying Fury can sustain such popularity. But as it stands, Fury has at least two or three massive fights/paydays in front of him with or without Anthony Joshua.
I don't watch TV or follow the newspapers much or anything either. The main reason I know AJ is a massive star is because his picture is everywhere (endorsements). But his picture would probably be in more places than Fury's anyway, even if he'd lost a few fights by now. AJ has the right look to be commercial. AJ has great muscles and knocks people out and that crosses over. The fact that he's won some world titles just adds that extra layer and makes him a truly massive star. This was a kid groomed for crossover stardom who is walking the walk. Fury's well known. He must be. His achievements and his personality are quite unique. His win over Klitschko is the one of the greatest historically for a British fighter. And he still hasn't lost. The fact that he's come back after being 10 stone overweight and off for 2 1/2 years to basically beat Wilder, supposedly a top 2 fighter and definitely a killer puncher, just confirms how special and unique he is. Sports fans and pundits are pretty dumb sometimes but at a certain point they have to all recognize something real as that. Fury hasn't been groomed for anything. He's always been a minor celebrity and a major personality, bit too real sometimes.
Didn't Fury Klitschko do around 500,000 buys? That's a good figure considering boxing wasn't as big as it is now, Fury wasn't rated and Klitschko was deemed boring. Never underestimate Sky. They could get serious numbers out of Fury now if he was in their platform.
You don’t like him. You admitted it before the fight last weekend. You keep referencing a section of people booing him...yet you don’t reference the reception he got from that crowd has he walked to the ring. He got booed because he wouldn’t put Pianeta to bed yet he was getting the much needed rounds in. Watch how he goes from here. Look how popular he grows in and outside boxing. You want evidence in figures, well look at the ppv’s from the weekend (expensive ppv’s too), look at how big the rematch will be and how much money that will generate (This isn’t how I judge success by the way). Wilder was little known in his own country before the fight, but because he fought Fury it was one of biggest heavyweight fights in the US in god knows how long. Joshua isn’t the only big gun in the division now. It’s been proven that a huge fight can be generated without him. Joshua needs Wilder and Fury for the mega money, that’s a fact.
Has it been proved that a 'huge' fight can be generated without him? I don't think the figures released so far for Wilder Fury are particularly massive. Yes, American PPV fights cost more than here, but 350k isn't a massive number. Certainly not for lineal v unbeaten heavyweight champions. As for the UK, if the rumours of 100k are true, that's poor. It's a lot less than Khan Maidana for example which was also a US fight. I know you'll come back with 'it's about more than sales.' And yes, of course legacy is important. But again you seem to be basing Fury on how big he is by saying he'll be massive in the future. We don't know for certain that he will. You may think his next fight is a sold out Wembley or 1m Vegas PPV. What if it's a 12 round UD against Manuel Charr at Manchester Arena?
Over 300,000 buys in the US...the biggest selling heavyweight ppv since 2003. You’re right, it does cost more, it’s nearly £59. Do you think if ppv’s were that price over here that AJ would still do the same ppv’s if the price was 3x more expensive? Would he b*****ks. The facts are that a huge fight can be generated without AJ. Fury vs Wilder is a huge fight. Going round in circles with you as per usual. Bored of it.
Because if you're saying something like 'it's the biggest heavyweight fight in fifteen years on American PPV' to demonstrate how big it was, the other fights matter surely? From memory I don't think there have been many really. Fifteen years sounds like you're comparing it to loads of PPV fights but I reckon there have been about three or four.
Does it really matter what I am or am not comparing it to, you seem to be clutching at straws? I’m stating a fact, it’s the biggest selling ppv for heavyweight clash in the US for 15 years. There hasn’t really been a heavyweight in the US that has grabbed their public’s imagination in a very long time, including Wilder. You’re desperate to find holes in it.
No, I'm saying you can look at the figures in two different ways. You're trying to put a positive spin on it by saying it's the biggest heavyweight fight in fifteen years. If that means it outsold Oleg Maskaev, Kevin McBride and Danny Williams fights it doesn't sound quite as impressive. It's not clutching at straws. Imagine a different sport. If you say 'player X scored more goals than any other player for Man Utd this season' it sounds good. If he only scored five and they went down it doesn't. You seem very keen for this to be portrayed as a huge success and that Fury is now a global hero/star/massive box office attraction. But if it did about 100k domestically and 300/350k in America it's not really much more than average. It's literally about what was expected.
Ffs. Of course I want to be positive about it, it’s great news if you’re a British boxing fan. 2 of the best heavyweights in the world are British and they can pull in good numbers on either side of the Atlantic. If you want to be a proper AJ fanboy and not appreciate both fighters then i’ll leave you to it you big dosser x
