A match between Tyson Fury (30-0-1) and Anthony Joshua (23-1) would be the largest in British boxing history: a reunion of two world heavyweight champions at the height of their powers and a heady clash. of personalities and styles. .
On June 10, 2020, sports media collapsed when Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn and Fury himself announced that the fighters had “initially” agreed to monetary design for a two-fight deal by 2021.
There are still obstacles to prevent them from entering the ring together, the road to this confrontation is now beginning to clear.
Here furyjoshua. com analyses the pitfalls on which they still want to succeed before this great occasion becomes a reality.
While Hearn and Fury were incredibly positive and positive in uttering this “agreement” between the two wrestlers, Frank Warren and Bob Arum were equally positive.
The history of the box is riddled with dream fights that never happened or that happened later than they deserve. Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao do not forget that they nevertheless shut their horns for their super fight in 2015, when the Best Moment would have been 2010.
These are some of the bridges we want to cross before embarking on a frenzy of excitement over combat that will captivate the nation.
As already detailed, all we have at this level is a comprehensive monetary scheme that has been “agreed in substance” through Hearn. A two-match deal with a 50-50 split for the first match and the winner taking a percentage of 60-40. for the rematch. Nothing for the wisest boxing.
But until we point out contracts, we don’t have fights, and although the promotional parties are under pressure that they’re all on the same page in the preference to succeed in an agreement that any of the fighters want, there’s nothing guaranteed yet.
Fury is co-promoted through Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and Arum’s Top Rank, while Joshua is promoted through Hearn’s Matchroom.
Arum is now negotiating with Hearn and Matchroom after Daniel Kinahan retired after a media typhoon about his involvement in the planned fight.
Such was the way Fury destroyed Wilder in his rematch in Las Vegas in February, there was a detail of astonishment when “The Bronze Bomber” (42-1-1) promptly exercised his contractual right to a trilogy fight.
But while Fury’s competitive game plan subdued Wilder and highlighted his technical flaws in this rematch, we won’t have to because he was knocked down twice in his first match, a debatable draw in Los Angeles in December 2018. A third match is not a formality. opposite the maximum concussion cutter in the heavyweight division.
Fury vs. Fury Wilder 3 originally scheduled to take a position in July 2020, but a mixture of the COVID-19 pandemic and a bicep injury for Wilder temporarily sabotaged that plan. The month of October was then discussed but temporarily set aside.
Arum now hopes the match can take place on Saturday, December 19, though it turns out that his favorite place, the logo of the new $2 billion Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders), is likely to be discarded. The Raiders said the stadium would be closed to fans of the 2020 football season.
Arum has stated that the fight may not take place behind closed doors due to loss of profits due to the lack of a live portal. .
If on December 19 he is sabotaged by the pandemic, Arum said there was a contingency plan to carry out the fighting in the first week of February 2021, in Asia. Warren said Fury was in a position to fight before the end of 2020, so there is strong effort to get the fight going on.
Unsurprisingly, Fury is the favorite to defeat Wilder in 2-7, with Deontay one shot 11-4.
The 39-year-old Bulgarian, Kubrat Pulev (28-1), is the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s IFF belt, and will face AJ at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, but the pandemic has struck.
As for Fury vs. Fury. Wilder 3, the hope is that the fight can now be organized before the end of the year with Hearn eager for Joshua’s forced breakup (the last time he fought Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019) for too long.
Again, the main thing here is the place, having discussed a number of probabilities, adding the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia, the Royal Albert Hall with a small VIP crowd and even a boat.
However, Hearn now says the fight is likely to take place at London’s O2 Arena in early December, although there is still “a strong chance” that he will take a position behind closed doors.
Pulev’s last challenge for world glory ended in a knockout loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2014, and as his co-promoter Arum continually talks about his chances, the challenger has a 5-1 chance with Joshua as a big favorite 1-8.
That’s when it started to get confusing . . .
Boxing sanction agencies seem to provide more questions than answers, the last thing that a game so stuck in politics needs, and Fury vs. Fury. Joshua had shown all the symptoms of adapting to some other victim on a large scale.
While any of the wrestlers already have intermediate fights before a Fury vs Joshua showdown can take place, their mandatory long-term obligations also threatened to throw more keys into the works.
However, the photo became clearer on August 22 when Dillian Whyte was stopped in five rounds through Alexander Povetkin at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex.
Whyte had been the candidate of the World Boxing Council (WBC) for more than 1,000 days, and the sanctioning framework had ordered the winner of Fury vs. Fury. Wilder 3 to meet him later, assuming he had defeated Povetkin.
That didn’t happen, of course, and now it will be at least a year before Fury (if he beats Wilder) has binding commitments to the WBC, paving the way for a clash with Joshua.
The only remaining imaginable blocker may be the World Boxing Organization (OMB), which has as its representative the former king of the peso, Oleksandr Usyk (17-0).
Rumors of Usyk’s camp in recent weeks have been that Joshua will protect his WBC belt as opposed to Usyk if he defeats Pulev, but it remains to be seen whether the sanctioning framework will try to make this happen.
Meanwhile, Usyk, who has had a heavyweight fight so far, is expected to face Dereck Chisora in an on-demand fight in Los Angeles in late October.
This fight is for Wembley Stadium, isn’t it? Outside, in front of a bustling crowd of another 90,000 people who offer a backdrop for the biggest showdown in British boxing history. Not so fast.
The promoters – as with all the spaces of this occasion – will seek to create a market for the rates (the cash paid through the place that houses it) and are already talking about several territories as possible points of contact.
While London and Las Vegas will actually be in the combined as existing fighting capitals, Saudi Arabia is now also an apparent contender for Joshua’s victory over Ruiz Jr last December. And those 3 features are probably the tip of the iceberg and several countries. show interest Which will offer the highest offer?
So, while British wrestling enthusiasts, and all the experts who respect others, would desperately want to see Fury vs Joshua take a stand on those shores, at this point there is still a very genuine possibility that this is not the case.
The war to broadcast a Fury vs Joshua match is one of the promotion’s most desirable sub-themes, once again, it’s a million-pound story, with a cast of stellar characters.
Joshua’s victory over Ruiz Jr last December brought a national record of 1. 6 million purchases at Sky Sports Box Office, each paying 24. 99 euros at a time. Those figures would probably be overshadowed by that, so what wouldn’t please?
In the UK, however, while Joshua’s fights are broadcast on Sky, Fury’s fights are broadcast on BT Sport. So how do we solve this problem?
The story showed the possibility of joint PPV broadcasts and this may only be the answer here: HBO and Showtime, for example, joined in 2015 for Mayweather vs Pacquiao, and the result is the record of all time in the United States with 4. 6 million purchases. . $89. 95 at a time.
The other intriguing deal would, of course, be the United States, where Fury still has two fights in a five-fight deal with ESPN, 80 million pounds. Meanwhile, Joshua’s recent fights since 2018 have been broadcast through the new DAZN logo streaming service, which calls the sport’s Netflix.
Again, the question remains how to navigate in this complicated area, and we have to mention that so far DAZN has been a staunch opponent of PPV, who prefer to rate their subscribers with a relatively low monthly subscription payment than with higher one-time payments for express. Fights.
In addition, DAZN is also making plans for the global launch of its service in more than two hundred markets with boxing at the forefront, so how can this be the market for this fight?
In the meantime, can this be an attractive opportunity for Amazon and its Prime Video offering, which has already embarked on sports streaming with the English Premier League, high-level tennis and the National Football League (NFL)?
Whatever happens, we know that if Fury and Joshua meet, television corporations will do them incredibly (uh).
Traditionally, fighters will get a guaranteed base bag with a great chance of hiking in PPV winnings. Joshua is said to have gained 46 million pounds for his victory over Ruiz Jr, while Fury is said to have raised more than 25 million pounds for crushing Wilder in his rematch.
For this fight, wait even longer. Much bigger.
It is easy to see that if any of the fighters, and indeed all parties, need this fight to take place, it is very close to being a certainty. The date is just a domain to define.
Whyte’s defeat through Povetkin means that the first episode of the Fury vs Joshua saga is now much more likely to take a position in the summer of 2021, assuming Fury gets rid of Wilder and Joshua defeats Pulev.
If, as expected, they signal a two-fight deal, the rematch is likely to be quick and would also take a position in 2021, towards the end of the year.
Whyte’s defeat also increases the fact that the match will be for the undisputed heavyweight championship with the 4 major belts (WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO) online.
So, to summarize, we have the perspective of an occasion, an occasion when structure and subtramas are almost as desirable as fireworks inside the ropes.
It’s going to be a great rideArray. .