By Victor Salazar
New York - Last month, heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KO’s) made huge headlines when he and his promoter Frank Warren announced they had signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank - which ultimately meant he was taking an interim-fight before his rematch with WBC world champion Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KO’s).
The rematch by all accounts was set to take place on a May date in Brooklyn on Showtime pay-per-view.
However, Fury and company had other plans. With Top Rank having an exclusive content deal with ESPN, it makes things a bit complicated for a rematch agreement.
Former two-division world champion and Showtime broadcast analyst, Paulie Malignaggi, was ringside calling the fight in Los Angeles last December.
He feels Fury was robbed of a win - which made the rematch much tougher to make.
“I think it was a power move for sure,” Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com. “I think Top rank and Tyson Fury made a power move. The only blocking that was done was when they robbed Fury. When the robbed Fury, you have the rematch clause and its sealed. Fury wins that fight there’s a rematch clause. The only blocking was when they robbed Fury because they left the door open for this guy to go wherever he wanted to.”
Malignaggi was excited for the rematch even if he did not have Wilder winning or even getting enough points to settle for a draw.
“Once you leave the United States, there’s not a guy on this planet who thinks Wilder won that fight,” stated Malignaggi. “That’s not to say it wasn’t a good fight or I wouldn’t want to see it again. Even me who had didn’t have Wilder winning, I’d still love to see it again because there was a lot of drama in that fight, knockdowns.”
A lot was made and said about referee Jack Reiss about the 10 count he gave Fury in the twelfth round when he was knocked down a second time in the fight. Malignaggi think the count was fair.
“I don’t think it was a long count,” explained Malignaggi. “People compared it to Tyson-Douglas. Tyson Douglas was a 14 second count. It’s the referees count. The rule is not 10 seconds, the rule is a 10 count and every referees count is different. Fury and Wilder was about 10 seconds anyway, nothing that crazy, shame we’re not getting the rematch.”
