Tyson Fury: record, next fight and profile →
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum was very impressed with last week's heavyweight clash between WBC world champion Deontay Wilder and challenger Tyson Fury on Showtime Pay-Per-View. At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Wilder and Fury fought to a controversial twelve round split draw.
The Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury fight was a critical success and a commercial success. BoxingScene.com has learned that Showtime Pay-Per-View’s four-fight show, headlined by their riveting heavyweight title fight Saturday night from Staples Center in Los Angeles, slightly exceeded 300,000 buys in the United States. Figures from many cable companies in the U.S. haven’t been officially submitted, but initial indications from cable and satellite operators that have reported to Showtime are that Wilder-Fury should reach a maximum of 325,000 buys when the numbers are completely compiled within the next three months.
Deontay Wilder was even lighter than his official weight of 212½ pounds for his heavyweight title defense versus Tyson Fury on Saturday night than we first thought. Wilder weighed 209 pounds, according to the WBC champion, when he stepped on another scale in his dressing room following Friday’s official weigh-in just outside Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 6-feet-7 Wilder also said on a conference call Tuesday that the 6-feet-9 Fury unofficially was 260 pounds when the big British challenger was weighed in his dressing room.
Deontay Wilder has repeatedly applauded Tyson Fury for getting off the canvas in the 12th round and finishing their fight Saturday night. When Wilder drilled Fury with a right-left combination about 35 seconds into the final round, Wilder assumed Fury wouldn’t be able to get up. The unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion celebrated as if he expected what had been a difficult fight to end at that telling moment.
Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s father, John, expressed a positivity in the wake of his son’s draw with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who scored ninth- and 12th-round knockdowns but failed to earn his eighth knockout in as many title defenses last Saturday at The Staples Center in Los Angeles on Showtime Pay-Per-View.
The biggest topic in the sport is the aftermath of last Saturday's heavyweight clash between WBC world champion Deontay Wilder and challenger Tyson Fury. The contest, which saw Fury go down twice, ended in a controversial twelve round split draw at Staples Center in Los Angeles. One of the most debated topics is the twelfth round, where Fury was knocked down hard and appeared to be completely out on the mat.
An old boxing axiom suggests that the challenger must “take” the title from the champion. It’s not enough, according to that debatable adage, to merely test the title-holder in a competitive championship match and expect to leave the ring with his crown. Deontay Wilder argued Tuesday this theory applies to his split draw Saturday night with Tyson Fury.
Promoter Barry Hearn of Matchroom Sport is laughing off any talk that Anthony Joshua is not the king of the weight class. Last Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and lineal champion Tyson Fury fought to a controversial twelve round split draw.
It ended as it began. Deontay Wilder is still the WBC heavyweight champion. Tyson Fury retains the lineal crown. He is still the man who beat the man. More people, it seems, think Fury won enough rounds to overcome two knockdowns, the latter of which has already become part of the folklore of boxing.
Amir Khan speculates that his countryman, Anthony Joshua, may have a bit of fear in his heart when it comes to a potential unification with Deontay Wilder. The two heavyweights were negotiating the terms a few months ago, but their discussions were abruptly stopped when Joshua's team indicated that a mandatory defense was necessary against Alexander Povetkin.