Save the round robin at Heavyweight! Fury v Usyk NOW!

[Willow The Wisp]

It's all rumor till it happens......But Fury vs. Usyk now might save the Fury, Joshua, Wilder, Usyk round Robbin!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/talkspo...te-joshua/amp/

[Willow The Wisp]

Eddie Hearn has reminded us that Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury is too big not to happen.

I agree with Eddie, which is unusual. It should have happened when both were undefeated in order to max the importance, but that seems like a long time ago now. Back in my day (starting to increasingly begin sentences that way), Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton managed to fill their dance cards up in each other's company, and everybody got to fight everybody (with the exception of friends Frazier vs. Norton):

03/08/1971. Frazier - Ali I
01/22/1973. Foreman - Frazier I
03/31/1973. Norton - Ali I
09/10/1973. Ali - Norton II
01/28/1974. Ali - Frazier II
03/26/1974. Forman - Norton
10/30/1974. Ali - Foreman
10/01/1975. Ali - Frazier III
06/16/1976. Foreman - Frazier II
09/28/1976. Ali - Norton III

The entire drama unfolded over a 5 year span.
This was for the good of the sport, of course; and produced legenday encouters that history has certainly not forgotten, better remembered than just about anything in sports. It's very important to note here, that of these ten massive events, only Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali in 1971 and George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier in 1973 actually featured two undefeated fighters. This, of course bodes well for today's top 4 superstars in light of Joshua's two embarrassing stumbles and Tyson Fury’s dominant ( though electric) performances against Wilder and the end of pristine legers for 2 of the four "legends of the present".
Others will naturally challenge me, comming with the requisite knowledge to effectively do so or not; but I rank Fury, Wilder and Joshua among the very best big men to emerge since the 1970s (right there with Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis, Wlad and Vitali), with Usyk showing potential, and their primes coincide.
So far, interrupted by Covid-19 restrictions and an antiquated freelance sport promotion structure that places short-term profits first and the health and marketing of the sport dead last; we have lost some time; but we have not lost the opportunity. Not yet.
For comparisons sake, what Boxing has managed to put together so far is this:

12/01/2018. Widler - Fury I
02/22/2020. Fury - Wilder II
10/09/2021. Fury - Wilder III

Much depends on what happens next, of course. It always does, right? If Usyk were to stop Joshua in their renatch in the spring, or sweep him again; Joshua may be enticed to retire, and might well be dropped from a legacy as a Great fighter, a status that once seemed his to claim, to merely a Very Good one who fell short of keeping company with the very best. Wilder, in fighting the clear Lineal champion to a near standstill and dumping the kingpin on his back a handfull of times, he has no such diminished status to weigh him down at this point and losing 2 of 3 to Fury has nevertheless pulled ahead of Joshua on the all-time score. 10 fights out of this bunch at this point, is too much to expect. They're starting the matchups too late in their careers.
But if the stars were to align, what might still occur between them will certainly prove worth the wait, however the wins and losses shake out, and might unfold in some way similar to this wild prognostication:

04/2012. Fury W 12 Usyk
05/2012. Wilder KO 4 Whyte
06/2022 Joshua TKO 10 Usyk II
09/2022 Fury W 12. Ruiz Jr.
10/2022 Wilder KO 10 Sanchez
11/2022. Joshua KO 8 Joyce
03/2023 Joshua W 12 Fury
08/2023. Wilder. KO 3 Joshua

....or whatever. Good Times!!

[Toffee]

It's all rumor till it happens......But Fury vs. Usyk now might save the Fury, Joshua, Wilder, Usyk round Robbin!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/talkspo...te-joshua/amp/

I couldn't make any sense of that interview.

But it does seem to disregard that Joshua seemingly isn't stepping aside, so Fury can't fight Usyk.

We'll see what Whyte and Fury do soon.

We've just had Wilder v Fury and Joshua v Usyk. In the next few months we might get Usyk v Joshua and Fury v Whyte.

It's a pretty good situation to be fair.

[Toffee]

By the way, I wonder whether Undisputed actually means anything to casual fans. Would a Fury v Usyk fight ever make sense? They risk not being able to market their future fights as champion, and all for the ability to add a few more trinkets. Given Usyk doesn't have massive mainstream appeal, is it worth it?

I'm thinking the lure of Undisputed is more appealing than actually resolving the matter. ie The chase is more fun than the kill. The exception might be if Joshua and Fury held the belts as that would have massive short term value.

[Willow The Wisp]

More sources coming out with Arum quoted as saying Fury vs. Usyk is on and Joshua is agreeable to step aside and unification is happening. But I'll believe it when I see it.

[IronDanHamza]

It makes the most sense.

But it's hard to see happening when Fury's got his Whyte mandatory and AJ has his Usyk rematch clause.

But I really hope they can work out Fury-Usyk but I can't see that happening.

[REDEEMER]

Fury will retire if he defeats Usyk ,he’s purposely trying to avoid Whyte knowing it’s a possibility of a loss . The best way to have A.J and Fury is both those guys win their next fights period .

[Willow The Wisp]

We can't be certain of how these negotiations will unfold, much less what the fallout might be if things go one way or the other. I doubt that Fury, Wilder or Joshua will retire before they've each had a taste of the other two, unless a medical issue or one loss too many were to demand it. I doubt that any of them will ever need to overextend their stay as a result of financial insolvency. Pride and the rush that comes of being at the top of their profession is another matter. I doubt that any of these three have left their prime as of yet.
I doubt that any of the three lack the nessisary ingredients to have a special night and beat any of the others, or anyone else. I doubt that Tyson Fury is reluctant to defend against Dillian Whyte or any other man on earth for that metter. Dillian Whyte is a long time contender, an excellent Heavyweight fighter and a deserving title challenger. But hard to forget the manner in which he's lost in two attempts at stepping up; laid out as if he'd been shot. I have some doubts......about an immediate rematch with clever Oleksander Usyk being the best course of action for Anthony Joshua at this moment. In the 1st Ruiz fight it very much appeared that Joshua invested too much in his own complimentary headlines and took his replacement opponent at face (body) value, as 90% of the contributors here had done. He was met by a powerful, driven tough guy with deceptive speed and he was out fought, clipped behind the ear and taken apart. Diligence and focus on his part and lack thereof on behalf of his opponent provided partial redemption and the return of his titles in the rematch. Simple. But the Usyk loss was something else. By his own acknowledgement he had brought his best to that fight, but was technically outboxed. To address this, he's being forced to alter his heretofore highly effective style in order to gain advantage; and that is a very different proposition than simply readjusting focus. It might be; and Joshua has already stated that he has considered this, that Usyk simply has his number. A spoiler. It does happen. Ali never did secure an emphatic win over Kenny Norton in three tries not too far off his prime. I created this thread because I believe that a round robin series between Fury, Wilder and Joshua should happen and is the best way to write boxing history; But if Joshua can't beat the upstart Ukrainian, that tournament is less likely to ever happen, and would be reducedin meaning if it did. I don't know if he can. I'm much more sure that Fury can. In any event, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and the spoiler Norton had their battles. Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and the spoiler Douglas got their business done. What a shame it would be if Boxing's rotten, outdated lack of uniformity in the 2020s succeeded in NOT getting the job done now!!!!! Like anyone who labors over a long post, love to hear thoughts.

[QueensburyRules]

We can't be certain of how these negotiations will unfold, much less what the fallout might be if things go one way or the other. I doubt that Fury, Wilder or Joshua will retire before they've each had a taste of the other two, unless a medical issue or one loss too many were to demand it. I doubt that any of them will ever need to overextend their stay as a result of financial insolvency. Pride and the rush that comes of being at the top of their profession is another matter. I doubt that any of these three have left their prime as of yet.
I doubt that any of the three lack the nessisary ingredients to have a special night and beat any of the others, or anyone else. I doubt that Tyson Fury is reluctant to defend against Dillian Whyte or any other man on earth for that metter. Dillian Whyte is a long time contender, an excellent Heavyweight fighter and a deserving title challenger. But hard to forget the manner in which he's lost in two attempts at stepping up; laid out as if he'd been shot. I have some doubts......about an immediate rematch with clever Oleksander Usyk being the best course of action for Anthony Joshua at this moment. In the 1st Ruiz fight it very much appeared that Joshua invested too much in his own complimentary headlines and took his replacement opponent at face (body) value, as 90% of the contributors here had done. He was met by a powerful, driven tough guy with deceptive speed and he was out fought, clipped behind the ear and taken apart. Diligence and focus on his part and lack thereof on behalf of his opponent provided partial redemption and the return of his titles in the rematch. Simple. But the Usyk loss was something else. By his own acknowledgement he had brought his best to that fight, but was technically outboxed. To address this, he's being forced to alter his heretofore highly effective style in order to gain advantage; and that is a very different proposition than simply readjusting focus. It might be; and Joshua has already stated that he has considered this, that Usyk simply has his number. A spoiler. It does happen. Ali never did secure an emphatic win over Kenny Norton in three tries not too far off his prime. I created this thread because I believe that a round robin series between Fury, Wilder and Joshua should happen and is the best way to write boxing history; But if Joshua can't beat the upstart Ukrainian, that tournament is less likely to ever happen, and would be reducedin meaning if it did. I don't know if he can. I'm much more sure that Fury can. In any event, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and the spoiler Norton had their battles. Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and the spoiler Douglas got their business done. What a shame it would be if Boxing's rotten, outdated lack of uniformity in the 2020s succeeded in NOT getting the job done now!!!!! Like anyone who labors over a long post, love to hear thoughts.

- - We can be certain Shyte Flubber ducked his biggest purse ever vs the Wlad rematch, and then AJ twice, and now duckin' Whyte.

4th clubfighter fight vs Deyonce where he and his fans be at...

[Willow The Wisp]

Lol!!! Well, we can doubt all that a little bit.