The top heavyweights aren’t ducking

[Longhaul]

Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder aren’t ducking one another.

They’re all doing what’s best for their individual careers and bank accounts.

Anyone who accuses any of these individual fighters of ducking are simply ignoring the facts.

Tyson Fury’s immediate rematch with Wilder was put on ice after Fury signed a deal that was rumored to be for five fights and $80 million dollars with ESPN and Top Rank. That deal doesn’t have Joshua or Wilder attached to it. So why would he rush into those fights? He stands to make more money fighting those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both the Joshua and Wilder fights are also logical. He feels he’s the lineal champion and has reason too. He beat Klitschko before Joshua did and in more convincing fashion. There’s also a lot of people who believe he beat Wilder even though that fight ended in a draw. So wanting 50-50 splits on those fights seems reasonable and logical to me.

I also have a hard time believing Fury would duck anyone when he’s fought Wladimir Klitschko and Wilder. Especially when the Wilder fight was his third fight back from a long layoff.

Joshua’s deal with DAZN was a massive one that dwarfed what HBO offered and also beat Showtime’s offered deal. That deal doesn’t have Fury or Wilder attached to it, so why would he rush into it? He stands to make more money if he fights those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both fights also seems logical. He’s the biggest draw of the three and has the majority of the world titles, so wanting 60-percent of the cut isn’t outrageous and seems reasonable and logical to me.

I also have a hard time believing he wants to duck anyone when he fought Klitschko.

Wilder’s deal with Showtime is rumored to be as much or more than what DAZN offered (that’s what Shelly Finkel said at least) and that’s without having fights against Fury or Joshua attached to it. So why would Wilder rush into those fights? He stands to make more money fighting those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both fights also seem logical. He’s the longest reigning champion of the two, has the prettiest record and brings the American market into play. Wanting a 50-50 split with Joshua isn’t unreasonable because of that. And since the first fight with Fury ended in a draw and he retained his title, wanting that same 55-45 split that happened the first time isn’t unreasonable either.

I also have a hard time believing Wilder would duck anyone when he’s fought Luis Ortiz and Fury in his last two fights.

What we have are three heavyweights who could reasonably be placed in any order 1-3 on top of the division. We have a great debate about who’s the best because there isn’t a solid answer. All three have a legitimate argument for being the best. We have three fighters who are all making reasonable demands to fight each other, who will gladly fight someone else instead of taking reduced deals. That’s because they’ll probably win fights against anyone else, make even more money, improve their positioning in negotiations and put the fights against the other heavyweight champs in higher demand.

Unfortunately, none of these fighters need each other yet and are all standing their ground because of it. Boxing needs them to fight each other as soon as possible and we all want them to figure it out and fight each other as soon as possible. But they just don’t need to do it. So maybe instead of pointing fingers, placing blame and arguing amongst ourselves, we can all respect them, one another and just hope these fights happen.

Until then, keep debating... I guess.

Great post!It makes perfect sense to me.

[daggum]

there is no 100 million without a joshua fight so how is that not ducking? he just fought fury and made 10 million but that fight was a money loser as the ppv and live gate only generated around 16 million and didnt cover the 2 fighters purses(which is why wilders next fight is on normal showtime and not ppv) he can't get close to 100 million without joshua. maybe if he waits he can do better down the line but hes not even big enough to be on ppv yet he thinks he deserves 50-50 split on ppv with joshua who is also not on ppv and 2 non ppv fighters somehow generate 2 million plus buys?

[boliodogs]

Fury and Wilder are both avoiding AJ. If either of them beat him they would make much more money after that but neither is confident enough to try.

[Toffee]

You seem to assume that boxers 'duck' because they're scared of someone. I highly doubt that's ever the reason they duck. These are guys who would gladly take a pounding for the right money... but believe they're the best and won't have to take a beating in their prime.

The second assumption is that they can just make the money later. Well they can, but they will have still left money on the table now. Which leads us to the reason that fighters duck - they do it because someone in their organisation doesn't believe they can win and wants to preserve their meal ticket.

In my opinion, that's what is happening to Deontay. Joshua wants to start earning that money and his team are convinced he can come through it. Wilder wants to earn that money and his team are convincing him it's better to do it later - because they think he could lose to Joshua.

Then you've got Fury who is just a law unto himself. I think he's just happy to be back in society.

[LacedUp]

Deontay just said yesterday that he's only interested in the WBC belt

How pathetic is that?

[daggum]

You seem to assume that boxers 'duck' because they're scared of someone. I highly doubt that's ever the reason they duck. These are guys who would gladly take a pounding for the right money... but believe they're the best and won't have to take a beating in their prime.

The second assumption is that they can just make the money later. Well they can, but they will have still left money on the table now. Which leads us to the reason that fighters duck - they do it because someone in their organisation doesn't believe they can win and wants to preserve their meal ticket.

In my opinion, that's what is happening to Deontay. Joshua wants to start earning that money and his team are convinced he can come through it. Wilder wants to earn that money and his team are convincing him it's better to do it later - because they think he could lose to Joshua.

Then you've got Fury who is just a law unto himself. I think he's just happy to be back in society.

the same guy "managing" wilder also runs pbc so of course hes not going to want one of his biggest stars to go on another network. that hurts pbc so he's willing to sabotage wilders best interests to help his own company. real cutthroat stuff

[Maixo]

They should be fighting each other plain and simple.The only reason they get to bump up their bank accounts fighting punch bags is because there are too many fools in this world who will pay to watch these charades.Mayweather v McGregor was a perfect example of the inherent ******ity of the human race. If the boxing public actually started cultivating some brain tissue and ignored these "fights" then they would simply have to fight each other .

[DaNeutral.]

Wilder is ducking. He's even admitting to it. 2020, they had a plan.

[Tom Cruise]

None of them are ducking I believe all would take fights with the other 2...

As long as the opponent is willing to come to their network, fight under their promotional company banner and generally give up control of the promotion.

[Froch_uppercut]

Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder aren’t ducking one another.

They’re all doing what’s best for their individual careers and bank accounts.

Anyone who accuses any of these individual fighters of ducking are simply ignoring the facts.

Tyson Fury’s immediate rematch with Wilder was put on ice after Fury signed a deal that was rumored to be for five fights and $80 million dollars with ESPN and Top Rank. That deal doesn’t have Joshua or Wilder attached to it. So why would he rush into those fights? He stands to make more money fighting those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both the Joshua and Wilder fights are also logical. He feels he’s the lineal champion and has reason too. He beat Klitschko before Joshua did and in more convincing fashion. There’s also a lot of people who believe he beat Wilder even though that fight ended in a draw. So wanting 50-50 splits on those fights seems reasonable and logical to me.

I also have a hard time believing Fury would duck anyone when he’s fought Wladimir Klitschko and Wilder. Especially when the Wilder fight was his third fight back from a long layoff.

Joshua’s deal with DAZN was a massive one that dwarfed what HBO offered and also beat Showtime’s offered deal. That deal doesn’t have Fury or Wilder attached to it, so why would he rush into it? He stands to make more money if he fights those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both fights also seems logical. He’s the biggest draw of the three and has the majority of the world titles, so wanting 60-percent of the cut isn’t outrageous and seems reasonable and logical to me.

I also have a hard time believing he wants to duck anyone when he fought Klitschko.

Wilder’s deal with Showtime is rumored to be as much or more than what DAZN offered (that’s what Shelly Finkel said at least) and that’s without having fights against Fury or Joshua attached to it. So why would Wilder rush into those fights? He stands to make more money fighting those two later in his career.

His monetary demands for both fights also seem logical. He’s the longest reigning champion of the two, has the prettiest record and brings the American market into play. Wanting a 50-50 split with Joshua isn’t unreasonable because of that. And since the first fight with Fury ended in a draw and he retained his title, wanting that same 55-45 split that happened the first time isn’t unreasonable either.

I also have a hard time believing Wilder would duck anyone when he’s fought Luis Ortiz and Fury in his last two fights.

What we have are three heavyweights who could reasonably be placed in any order 1-3 on top of the division. We have a great debate about who’s the best because there isn’t a solid answer. All three have a legitimate argument for being the best. We have three fighters who are all making reasonable demands to fight each other, who will gladly fight someone else instead of taking reduced deals. That’s because they’ll probably win fights against anyone else, make even more money, improve their positioning in negotiations and put the fights against the other heavyweight champs in higher demand.

Unfortunately, none of these fighters need each other yet and are all standing their ground because of it. Boxing needs them to fight each other as soon as possible and we all want them to figure it out and fight each other as soon as possible. But they just don’t need to do it. So maybe instead of pointing fingers, placing blame and arguing amongst ourselves, we can all respect them, one another and just hope these fights happen.

Until then, keep debating... I guess.

There's one glaring problem with your hypothesis: Avoiding fights because they're risky to your bank account = ducking.

That IS what ducking is duh.