Well before my time mate however Tyson has not boxed since last year and won't box again till next year if he had been as active as Ali was in 76 I think having a event such as this would be more reasonable
They are wishing it will be Charr. More likely to be Kabayel. Kabayel beat Chisora who was Fury’s last opponent. I am hoping for Wallin or a Ruiz trilogy but that won’t happen. Let’s hope the Saudis deliver the money for Joshua vs Wilder in 2024.
Why the need for hope or the Saudi money? Money is no excuse for this fight not happening and Tony Duck Joshua is full of money and excuses.
Hot off the press! Boxing Scene, Luis Ortiz, training 3 times a week, but can’t get a fight. Problem solved! Okay, he’s 44ish, but hale and hearty, no hip replacements or bullet holes on his 6’4” frame. What are you waiting for Ed, you used to represent him?
Fair enough but my point is this kind of thing is a recurring theme. Although Ali's fight with the wrestler was considerably more farcical and dangerous: This content is protected If Fury were fighting guys like Coopman and Dunn he'd be pilloried. Inactivity is not a Fury specific problem, it's a structural problem in most or all divisions but apparently the first HW undisputed fight since 1999 and the first of the four belt era is signed. And Ali's activity against guys like Young and Norton 3, who beat him up regardless of what the judges said, was not wise and contributed to his serious health problems.
Joshua-Ortiz would be better than Charr or Kabayel, certainly more intrigue and the chance to (on paper) one-up Wilder. But Ortiz won't get the fight because he's still got power, skills, mental toughness and his southpaw stance. Compare how 43 year old Ortiz did against Ruiz to how 29 year old Joshua performed: Ortiz got knocked down 2-3 times but outboxed Ruiz in most of the rounds and finished the 12 round fight, Joshua got dropped 4 times and found a way out in 7. Ortiz would look to take Joshua's head off and would keep getting up either until he managed to do so or got KO'd. 2017 Ortiz would have been a strong favourite against post-Wlad Joshua knowing what we know now, which is why Hearn and co. swerved that fight like the plague. 2017 Anthony Joshua vs 2017 Luis Ortiz Joshua: 6’5.5, 82 inch reach, 250 lbs, 28 years old, boxing since age 18, competed as an amateur for 45 months, controversially won the 2012 Olympics in London at SHW, 19-0 (all inside the distance, 5 in the first round), 4 years as a pro, exclusively fought in Britain and mainly in London, lost 7 rounds, knocked down once as a pro, orthodox Ortiz: 6’2.5, 78 inch reach, 240 lbs, 38 years old, boxing since age 10, first recorded amateur bout in 1998, on the Cuban national team from 2002-2008 (training with Cuban amateur greats F. Savon and Solis), won the 2005 Pan American Games in Brazil at HW, 29-0 (27 inside the distance, 8 in the first round), 8 years as a pro, fought in 8 nations and never at home, lost 3 rounds, never knocked down as a pro, southpaw Ortiz was younger than Wlad, Povetkin, Pulev and Helenius when Joshua beat them. Joshua’s performances against Cubans (E. Savon), southpaws (Nistor, Cammarelle, Usyk) and Cuban-trained front foot counter punchers (Ruiz) haven’t been good, which strongly suggests that Ortiz would have been a bad stylistic matchup for him. Hence Matchroom signed the highly avoided Ortiz in 2016 in order to keep him away from Joshua, as Whyte stated. “If I have another one of these fights, I’m done with boxing. I should be good enough that I don’t have to go through hell and back to win a fight. It should be a good competition, but I shouldn’t have to go through one of those fights to win.” - Joshua to McCracken post-Wlad
So the fight wasn’t locked in. Hearn proclaims himself as the World’s top promoter. Since the “locked in” fight failed to materialize, how many offers has he made to Wilder?
It’s a simple concept - the money isn’t there without a site fee. Joshua and Wilder have already seen X amount of money on the table. Why would they accept anything less?
Because an outlier shouldn't determine the actual market value of a fight. Clearly the market value is only what the winning bidder will pay for it. As for this being "locked in" or not - how often has Hearn had a go at Warren over saying "it's on" without naming a date or venue? For what it's worth, Hearn is right, it's not worth announcing unless you can tell us to buy a ticket - but his retro-justifying previous statements on AJ-Wilder is painful.
With the exception of Usyk twice and at a stretch 41 year old Wlad, it is a career defined by tickover and pushover fights.
Absolutely, as long as any “tick over” is staged at York Hall with a normal purse, appropriate to the venue, with normal ticket prices for the patrons. This would be unacceptable to his ringmaster, Big Ed, as he only deals in Joshua fights he constantly describes as “huge,” “massive,” happenings!