Usyk accepts 70/30 deal, the fight is on!

You may be right. But the way I see it, the buzz already began weeks ago, so the official announcement will hit the ground running.

Incidentally, Lewis-Vitali came together on extremely short notice, and it was one of HBO's biggest and most viewed boxing broadcasts in years at that time, with 4.6 million reportedly tuning in.

Now the boxing business model has changed a good deal since then, but still - the novelty of this fight sells itself, and I believe there is plenty of time to generate excitement. It's already started with overzealous fans from both sides. That type of excitement can be contagious.

 

I respectfully and strongly disagree. Things like presser events are typically reserved for die-hards as well. And I think far more people (people with at least a passing interest in boxing) ARE already aware of it, because it's been a hot trending sports topic. And the die-hards help shape the unofficial narrative for the casuals, in any case. I think you might be putting the cart before the horse here, because generating interest in big fights is always primarily predicated on the enthusiasm of die-hards, and this trickles down to varying degrees of casuals. That's how most promotions tend to play out. It's a rare situation when casuals become excited about a fight before the die-hards. The long and overdrawn out negotiations between Floyd and Pac is a prime example of how excitement trickles down, and those two ultimately became global superstar celebrities as a result.

And incidentally, I'm not sure where you're getting this "90% of boxing audience doesn't follow Twitter"? And even if that is true (which I'd find mighty surprising), I'm sure most of the reliable casual boxing audience has some connection with social media that is at times boxing related.

 

Fair enough.

In the US, I don't think many casuals are overly aware of AJ. His fights aren't televised traditionally here, same with Usyk. I know a good number of casuals who are friends or acquaintances, and to the best of my knowledge, I'm not sure any of them actually know what DAZN even is, let alone pay a monthly or yearly fee. In that light you do have a very good point, because most of the biggest fights tend to involve boxers that casuals are familiar with. Even Fury, whose fights have been available on more traditional broadcasting methods (ESPN) probably isn't especially well known in the US. But at least he's had a strong dose of US exposure.

But in that light, this fight was probably never going to appeal much to American causals simply because of an official announcement, and that makes me think the buzz created in recent weeks has helped draw their attention to the fact that an "undisputed heavyweight champion" may soon be crowned for the first time since Lennox.

Put differently, I think the soap opera public negotiations here probably generated more interest than would have otherwise been generated had they just dropped an official announcement.

Bu of course, if the fight winds up NOT happening on April 29th, then perhaps the powers that be are in greater agreement with you and @drenlou which would weaken my stance, which is totally dependent on the fight taking place April 29th.

Bottom line for me - I hope it happens, I'm ridiculously fired-up for this one, and I remain optimistic that it will take place as rumored. Time will tell.

 

How did Usyk call Fury's bluff? I see a lot of people repeating this, and I realize most people saying this agree with you, that it won't happen, and/or that Fury is "looking for a way out".

But as I understand, Fury wanted 60-40 as the A-side, and Usyk insisted on 50-50. And then suddenly out of nowhere, Fury gave a 70-30 ultimatum which Usyk accepted almost immediately like something out of Ruthless People. So who called whose bluff, exactly? As I understand, Usyk went from wanting 50, to bottling it on 40, to ultimately accepting 30. It seems to me that Fury is the one who called Usyk's bluff on 50-50, and Usyk complied. But I digress, because I genuinely do believe that these are largely orchestrated public negotiations, designed to act as a modern day "promotion", and that these over-the-top soap opera tactics are generating the expected/hoped for responses - and then some.

As for Fury not being prepared, that would surprise me in this instance. Regardless of what Fury says or whatever act he's pulling at a given moment, I think he knows exactly how formidable and talented Usyk is. I suspect Furt and Usyk have both already been preparing more than either has let on.

 

I think that's all part of the hustle, and I think Usyk and his team are in on it. I could be way off the mark. I myself am not all that interested in public negotiations that leave fans arguing over purse splits instead of the potential match-ups. But these things garner attention these days. Boxing promotion has been (sadly) evolving with these modern day trenders, and I think Fury and Usyk are knowing participants looking to maximize their exposure (and again, I believe it's working).

But then again, nothing in boxing would surprise me. Besides, I have NO IDEA what's actually happening compared to what's being revealed in public, and barring a few rare insiders the world over, neither does anyone else.

But I genuinely believe Fury and Usyk definitely both want this fight.

 

Here's to hoping it happens sooner than later.