I mean Klitschko had to travel to win the belt - the rematch in Manchester. Just like he had to travel to Wembley to fight for a belt.
Wlad fought Povetkin I Russia, Jennings and a couple of other Americans in the US. Wilders team we all know have never had ang faith in him beating one of top quality guys in dicion hence the hand picked padded record.
In the same way Joshua went over to America to win a fight he was widely expected to win and was massively the A side. Wlad wouldn’t have come over to England to defend his belts against Joshua or Fury, not a chance. Just like Joshua said he’d never fight Wilder in America after the Parker fight. Routine defences in the challengers home country to make it slightly more competitive don’t match up to defending your belts against the best in the world in the opponents country.
If Matchroom were still providing their Saturday night boxing there'd have been more usable clips of Hearn, Bellew et al mouthing off which could be used as cheap filler on Sky Sports news / website. Plus Hearn is good at crafting narratives, with him persona non grata its a bit more difficult to breath life into AJ. That said, I think this will likely do well simply due to the strength of the Joshua brand, the fact he's back in the UK fighting at the right time and probably a blitz of marketing support closer to the event.
The Matchroom/DAZN/Sky/Joshua dynamic isn’t sustainable long term. Barely any hype for this fight at all from Sky.
What kind of notable pro fights A.J had won outside of Eddie backyard? He looked like mop for floor when he fought vs Panda Ruiz Jr in US and there most likely might be reason why. Interestingly, how tested in US A.J might perform vs uncles Arreola and Ortiz, not alone vs Wilder?
Completely off topic content for you as british fan of course. Cos guys like you prefer to have backyards champs . I ask you: list me number of title fights A.J had won outside of U.K and then compare with Fury, Lewis etc boxers and " nobody " Usyk " ( he looks that just does not have proper for you passport. I will not insist that he is better than Floyd Jr just cos he is larger while you will do with hypocrite attitude when you will compare Usyk with british boxer A.J who sorry is just big money project and is not even close to Floyd Jr in boxing skills ).
Joshua definitely sells better but I think saying Dillian Whyte could is a bit far. Wilder 2, if held in the UK, would've sold really well.
Tyson does not do good numbers. I bet Whytes fights at home have better attendance numbers than Fury.
Maybe after 2 Wilder fights he might sell more? There ofc maybe Haye might be happy to get A.J and Chisora fights and why not? Haye does have british passport, maybe eddie might place A.J vs Haye instead of A.J vs Usyk.
I've seen three adverts on Sky today for it, most recently just after the half time whistle on Monday Night Football.
If AJ signs a TV deal with anyone other than BT in the UK and ESPN in the US, it's a clear duck. Why put an obstacle in place for the Fury fight? Stay a free agent and have the fight on BT in the UK and ESPN in the US.