By Jake Donovan
The world continues to react to Monday’s senseless bombing in Boston. The terrorist act - a timed detonation at the finish line of the Boston Marathon during Monday afternoon - resulted in three confirmed deaths and more than 140 injured.
Life goes on in the boxing world, but doesn’t prevent the sport’s participants from offering its human side. Among those whose focus was forced to shift were the camps for this weekend’s heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Steve Cunningham. The two collide on Saturday in New York City, with their bout to be televised live on NBC.
The fight marks the first of what Fury (20-0, 14KO) hopes to be many in the United States. His camp hoped to develop marketability throughout the Northeast, particularly the Boston area given his Irish ancestry. The city held near and dear to the hearts of the fighter and his family members, the need was felt for this weekend’s fight to be about something more than just a title elimination bout.
“We are dedicating this fight to the victims of this horrible act of cowardice in Boston,” commented Peter Fury, Tyson’s uncle and head trainer. “Team Fury would like to send our prayers to all the families.”
Cunningham (25-5, 12KO) has been as identifiable for his patriotism as for his in-ring success. The former cruiserweight king cut his boxing teeth while serving in the United States Navy, and continues to proudly represent his country to this day.
With that comes extra incentive to turn around his career when he steps into the ring on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome, however, he doesn’t remain any less affected by Monday’s incident.
“We are deeply saddened to hear about the recent explosions in Boston,” Cunningham said when learning of the latest act of terrorism to occur. “An attack on any American city is an attack towards all of America! The victims and their families are in our prayers. We must stick together and be strong through these trying times.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, Yahoo Boxing Ratings Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter:
@JakeNDaBox
