Historical context on the need for Fury vs AJ

Tyson Fury is the champion, and Anthony Joshua is by far the best qualified challenger.
So it's the logical fight to be made.

 

Definitely. It's got to happen.

 

Heavyweight title hasn’t been considered the boxing prize in sports for decades. I don’t really see any overwhelming demand for one undisputed heavyweight heavyweight champion. Generations of fight fans have grown up knowing only of multiple champs and frankly are used to it by now. Yeah diehard boxing historians always wish there was only one champ but I think the attraction for many fans today for the fight to happen is because of the fighters themselves not because of the historical context. Would everyone be demanding that a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship is the biggest fight in boxing and has to happen if it was Fury vs Pulev or Wilder vs Ruiz?

yeah I wanna to see Fury vs Joshua as well because I think it’s a great matchup. The fact that its for the undisputed title is secondary to me

 

in 2020 the best you can hope for is to win the undisputed title. you can never expect to actually defend your belt, you will undoubtedly be stripped of at least one of your titles by the next time you fight,

 

Or vacate one of them, since most sanctioning bodies charge 3 percent of the fighters' purse for a sanctioning fee and boxers don't want to pay 12 percent to 15 percent of their purse to four or five sanctioning bodies in fees.

Especially when the purses get into the tens of millions of dollars, and you wonder why you are giving these orgs millions of dollars from your purse for a leather belt.

If Fury and Joshua fight for four or five belts (I have no idea what the IBO charges) ... and each fighter makes at minimum $30 million ... Fury and Joshua will have to pay at least $3.3 million EACH in sanctioning fees.

Do these orgs deserve $6.6 million just to allow this fight to happen? Especially knowing one of them will strip you 30 days later because you didn't sign to fight someone they want you to fight fast enough.

It gets stupid dumb really fast.

 

It's the fight that has to happen. Would be crap if it end s up like Bowe v Lewis.!

 

great post and video Rummy.

Fury-Joshua would be MASSIVE for British boxing, world boxing, and could even revitalize interest in heavyweight boxing in the States despite neither guy being American

For this fight to mean something, it has to happen in the next 12-15 months when both guys are still at their peak.

If it happens 4 years from now, it means very little. We do not need another Mayweather-Pacquiao.

 

It’s ridiculous that it most likely won’t happen. The sport of boxing has zero self awareness

 

I know that Fury is The Ring champion and no doubt he is nr. 1, but not champion for me. He has won all belts, yes, but not defended in four years. My definition of champion definitely doesn't include going four years without a defence (Louis being the exception because of WW2).

 

Fury has made a couple of successful defences against Deontay Wilder, who was a credible challenger.

 

Doubtful. But even if one would accept that reasoning, there would be three years until his first defence, with a retirement in between.

 

Yes, well, that's what happened.
It's certainly a very poor tenure for a champion but since no one else stepped up and established clear dominance in his absence, he is champion of the world, unbeaten since dethroning Wlad in 2015.

It's awful but not without historical precedent.

 

Taking the retirement into account I think it is without historical precedent.