-
-
They will have fought 3 times on July 24th.
Always amusing when I see this touted as an example of Wilder chasing the big fights. People getting excited over the Fury fights are ignoring the reality of how those fights came into being. Wilder cherry picked an obese, out of form Fury to try and add some lustre to his Can filled CV, with a view to improving his negotiating position for a unification fight. For Fury this was a no brainer, a shortcut back to title challenge as the promoters worked their magic and gave him an artificial rating, to mask the fact that he'd beaten no-one other than Seferi and Pianeta in years.
After the debacle in LA and being rescued by Haymon friendly officiating delivering an unlikely draw, Wilder found his reputation amongst serious boxing fans severely diminished, to the point that he offered the second fight to Fury as a way of redeeming a bad situation. Of course the clause was inserted as a condition for the fight taking place, which is the reason fight 3 is now happening. So there was only really the cherry pick gone wrong and the, fatally flawed, belief that a couple of tweaks were all Wilder needed to get a decisive win in the rematch. The second being the only time one could argue Wilder had deliberately sought out a top 5 fighter in their prime and even then it was only because otherwise no-one would take him seriously.
Comment
-
Right. But has either of them fought anyone else within the top 15 right now? Has either of them really tried to unify? Has Fury actually defended a belt? Or did they fight each other instead of doing all of the above? Yes they've fought each other, but they have also both fought a number of bums, has beens and gatekeepers. That does not make you the bestComment
-
"Brittard" speaking here.
As someone who followed the heavyweights when America basically wrote it off, I was excited when Wilder turned pro feeling he was exactly what the division needed.
His obscure career path made him almost impossible to follow and when he finally emerged on the world scene, his own manager told us he was still a prospect and matched him accordingly.
On the other hand, I was wary of Joshua and the hype train since I thought the Italian edited him out in the final ( ( didn't catch the fight against the Cuban).
Ultimately, Joshua has fought the better opposition and, to my eye at least, displays more ability.
Bear in mind that America led the sport for decades and as such set the standards by which Wilder is being judged. If he were British I've no doubt Americans would be tearing him apart. It took long enough for Lennox Lewis to any credit.Comment
Tweet
Comment