Wilder v fury

All your points are valid but what happens if Wilder loses to Fury. He loses the chance to become undisputed champion of the world. Imagine the Wilder Fury rematch with all the belts on the line if Wilder beat AJ first. The rematch would be even bigger.
To be honest I think Wilder beats Fury in the rematch anyway so Wilder will hopefully get his chance and Fury will probably have to wait for AJ until at least 2020.

 

That’s not true. Klitschko lost to Fury but brought massive appeal to the fight with AJ.

Even if Fury schooled Wilder, people would still want to see him and AJ in a shootout.

 

There's positives and negatives either way. They have to pick one. The rematch was almost agreed immediately so that got the head start. If Wilder and his team really believe they can beat Fury, then its surely the right decision.

I don't think fans can be too critical of who Wilder, Fury or AJ fight, provided it's one of the other two. There's always going to be one missing out but that's just how it goes. Looks like AJ now, it'll be someone else next time.

I'm a big Fury fan. But you wouldn't see me kicking off if Wilder fought AJ next. Only boxing fans win here with these three facing off. I'll never know why some can't enjoy the era if their preferred guy isn't getting it all his own way.

 

I haven’t read all the replies in this thread, but I think it’s time for a dose of reality for those calling for AJ-Wilder in the UK -obviously Fury is a different matter.

Matchroom/AJ can no longer afford to stage the fight here and they know it. Now that Wilder has entered the PPV market and has showtime/Haymon backing, there is simply too much money /event size potential in the US to make it even remotely feasible to host it here. The US Monster has been stirred from its deep sleep and the promoters /fighters (the Hearns included) will not be prepared too limit what can come in..Vegas site fee, close circuit tv etc, etc. British PPV will stay smash 1.5m buys 5am or not so that’s not an issue.

If AJ does go ahead with the Miller fight at MSG next than that for me is confirmation that they are preparing to become US relevant.

 

Still big question marks over Wilder's commercial pulling power, particularly for any other opponent than Fury or AJ who each have star power of their own. Even if the second fight is a classic and he wins by brutal KO are you saying that Wilder Breazele or Ortiz 2 is an assured big PPV event?

Hearns is talking a guaranteed two fight deal with the first in the UK. It will take a massive upturn in Wilder's US box office to shift him from that position, particularly after the scorecards from LA showed just what Haymon is capable of controlling. Don't forget AJ is earning massive sums away from the ring by virtue of those belts. Any offer for a US fight will be balanced against that revenue, not just the totals from a Wembley crownd and maxxed out UK PPV.

Last sentence however is obviously true and likely a part of the plan for a long time now. Although it's as much in my view about getting AJ on DAZN in US primetime - something which DAZN will have expected from Eddie when they first discussed their partnership.

 

The reality is that the first fight answered a lot of points about Wilder's commercial viability. This was a knockout artist unbeaten American heavyweight champion fighting an unbeaten, purportedly linear, giant-of-a-man heavyweight champion in America, in the biggest profile division in the sport, and it did less than the light hitting, average selling Tim Bradley did against an old Marquez. If you were told before that it would do worse than that fight, you'd accept it was disappointing.

 

The Anthony Joshau fights against Takam, Parker and Povetkin were so exciting with unpredictable outcomes that I broke my Sky PPV Order Button

 

I think that's a little harsh. As I said, there's still question marks about how much of a pull Wilder himself is but for a first time on PPV and with question marks over Fury's condition I think as a pair they did ok. What they will have been pleased with and looking to capitalise on is the one thing they couldn't predict, that the fight was a classic and there was a definite narrative leading into the second. They got a lot of media coverage which they will hope to translate into numbers for the second fight.

You are Frank Warren Jurgen and I claim my five pounds!

 

It may be a little harsh, but it's not that harsh. It's still a major heavyweight fight.

I'm also not sure that it will be regarded as a classic. It was boring and one-side with little action at all until Fury was dropped and got up. I do agree that it sets up a nice narrative for the rematch, but I'm not sure, given what I think of the numbers for the first, that it will translate into what some think for the second.

 

You make some good points, but I don’t believe Wilder’s pulling power against say Breazeale or somebody else similar will make much of a difference when it comes to Showtime/Vegas/Haymon putting together mega money for the undisputed heavyweight title against AJ.

Mayweather for example only sold about 400k against Berto...we know what he has generated in mega fights with Canelo and Pacquiao before that, and we know how much he sold against Connor afterwards. The point is, it’s about the international market value of the particular event, not necessarily what you can do against other opponents IMO.

There is no such thing as a guaranteed 2 fight deal, not in a game like boxing. If either fighter gets blown out easily or worse gets badly hurt than its game over at least in the immediate future for a rematch. That’s why this 60/40 stuff and than 70/30 rematch talk that Hearn is talking about is nonsense waffle- it’s all about stone cold, guaranteed cash and even more Importantly control what the Americans are going to be after.

As for AJs other commercial money, I don’t get how a mega Vegas fight would damage that? Who’s he sponsored by Lucazade, Under Armour (a US company) huge Boss etc- how is that going to affect them negatively...I think it would be the other way round personally.

I agree totally with the DAZN stuff- as we’ve seen, there getting no benefit from UK fights as evidenced by them passing up on Whyte - Chisora. They’re paying AJ a fortune and want him over there on prime time. It’s an interesting time.

 

I disagree that it was a boring fight...that was the narrative that Hearn tried to spin. It was actually edge of the seat stuff imo. There was the sense that Wilder could end it if he landed...that was actually exciting.

 

Exactly. I watched it with pals who don't watch much boxing and they loved it. By the end they were standing up shouting at the telly.

 

The reason it's significant is the gap between the earning power of each party without each other. AJ has options via his established market for massive earning without Wilder which negate the leverage that Showtime \ Haymon would otherwise possess.

The reason the Vegas mega fight would potentially damage AJ's earning power is the very control the Americans would want for their cash. Whether it's fixing the judges, the ref, other areas of the fight to get the belts or alienating AJ's relationships with DAZN or Sky. It's the reason why the headline cash sum isn't quite as attractive as it may first appear. It's also the reason why it doesn't matter what they come up with, it's not going to make commercial sense foe AJ to give up that a side position. This is a guy that's made nearly 50 million last year without risking Vegas cards or his broadcast deals.

 

It is kind of funny that Joshua holds most of the belts yet is the one on the outside and credibility shrinking by the day thanks to his management team who are frightened to put him in with a real "live" opponent.