Tyson Fury pulled a fast one on the boxing world this week with his shock link-up with Top Rank and ESPN. Of course he's still with Frank Warren, but the money suggests that he will be a US based fighter from here on out. Which got me thinking about the fight that now may never be. I'd hoped that next year would finally see the Wilder question answered and then British boxing fans could look forward to this country hosting the fight of the year in the premier division. What a fight it would be. AJ versus Fury, the new champion versus the old, the two best heavyweights in the world, both British, with contrasting stories and styles. London Golden Boy versus the Northern Gypsy King. Hearn versus Warren. etc etc. All of it taking place at Wembley stadium in front of 90k British fans, the culmination of years of growth in UK boxing. A high point never seen before and probably never again. Well it won't happen will it? Sure they may fight, but Bob Arum and his paymasters will be calling the shots from Fury's side and they will want the fight in the US. Hell, Fury may for that matter given AJ's popularity over here. I didn't though and however good their fight is, it won't be the same for this British boxing fan.
It will be a dark day if an all British fight for the undisputed king of the world is held away from these shores.
British boxing might have just gained its biggest ever night sometime in the future if young CHRIS Livingstone continues on his current trajectory First ever fight with a trainer and he’s a two time champion of the world The sky is the limit for the young war machine
Oh what have you done @emallini you’ve set him off again about Joshua now. That’s obviously the only fighter he’ll be taking issue about. Personally, I think Mike Tyson would have knocked out all of the current 3. Lewis would have, too.
Maybe not, but the clincher will be that if they hold it on the east coast they will still get 1/1.5m of those UK £20 buys whereas if they hold it in the UK it doesn't make PPV in the US. So the total pie will be bigger in the US, plus Espn have no interest in a UK fight.
It's a competitive top 5. People can argue all they want in terms of quality but for the first time in what 30 years we have say a top 5 in the division who could possibly lose to each other. I will take 4/5 close competitors over one outright star every day. We all appreciate klit now but he made the heavyweight division boring by being so much better than the rest.
It'd be ironic if the biggest ever fight in British history isn't held in Britain... The 90's/00's. Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis & Ike would clear this lot out, no problem. Then Lewis, Wlad and Vitali would do the same, too. Fury = Mobile giant who can't hit hard. AJ = Stiff giant who is predictable, but can hit. Whyte = Shocking. Parker = Decent, but predictable. Ortiz = Good, but ancient.
After the Klitschko era this current crop of HW's is a breath of fresh air. Talent wise not as good as the 90's but far superior to the K-Bros era, at one point in that period Stiverne, Eddie Chambers, Chagaev and Adamek were in the top 5 for several years and David Haye was seen as the saviour of the division !! After that 12 year wasteland seems some fans are still not happy, glass half empty comes to mind.
