Just when it appeared as though all of the issues involved in making the long-anticipated Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua undisputed heavyweight championship fight had finally been resolved, and the fight appeared on course to take place Aug.
Great story Dan. I do think Fury should have given him the rematch anyway. I understand Deontay making excuses when he lost, but Wilder gave Fury a shot when he did not have to as well. You definitely should do a podcast Dan. Leverage your years of relationships and get some great guests. Maybe do a face-off segment with Boxers on different sides of the street to let them air out there differences. Just an idea.
Bottom line is either Wilder or Joshua have no chance of winning. So really not much missed here. And the calibur of these 3 heavies are really not good. It's just what's out there at this time. Man I miss the Holmes, Tyson, Lewis, Shavers, Foreman, Bowe, Fraizer, Witherspoon, Ali, etc era.
The fact that you have Fury everywhere in this mix guarantees chaos. Fury is unstable , volatile and erratic in his daily quotes and I can well imagine how difficult it must be to negotiate anything with him. All of these guys need to fight one another and preferably more than once but it's pretty frustrating to see the circus it always has surrounding every aspect of it. The whole thing stinks to bloody hell and doesn't do much for the sport of boxing , it really needs to be fixed or regulated in some way. With the contracts today it's surprising that there isn't more clarity legally than there seems to be beforehand.
Boxing fans can be an odd bunch. I’ve seen a good amount actually rejoicing at this news. The news that effectively ends any chance of seeing the first Undisputed and Fully Unified HW champion of the world, and the sport, in a generation (if enforceable). It ruins the window and will fracture the division again with all the mandatories circling.
It’s like those “fans” don’t understand what a rare thing was on the cusp of happening. And actually, something not yet done fully in the 4-belt era (Lewis beat the “reigning” WBO champion Akinwande in 97, but the title was so little regarded at the time - Henry actually had to relinquish the title before fighting. It wasn’t until about 2007 that the WBO got unified recognition so it’s never actually been done)
And to be happy to not get that chance just feels self-destructive to the sport you purportedly claim to follow. And for what? A second rematch off the back of a fight that ended so conclusively last time that is literally not sporting merit or reason to see it again. Certainly not straight away.
And we wonder why the sport eats itself some times. This could have been a special summer - now we all gotta get dragged through this nonsense for months instead.
Well, hopefully not. But as a boxing fan, I know hoping for the right thing can be futile.
What the hell are you saying? The right thing *HERE* is that Fury honors the original contract and gives Wilder his rematch. I'm all for an undisputed champion and I am not a Wilder fan in the slightest. But contract is binding and if it was the other way around and Fury was knocked out then you would probably be on his side for the rematch.
The thing the advocates for an immediate Wilder-Fury rematch which I happen to agree with , is that Wilder fell apart after his loss , started making all kinds of excuses , " they shouldn't have stopped it I was ok " his costume was too heavy , Fury had loaded gloves , or a phantom thumb , he basically fell apart. He then went into a long , dark tunnel of withdrawal and frankly I think he just now is beginning to get over the loss. Any and every fighter will lose eventually if they hang around long enough , the greatness comes with how they react to a loss , do they pick themselves up and come back stronger than ever ? Or are they never again the same ? These are the questions moving forward that these three champs need to answer to the boxing world but also to themselves.
Ah, so you’re one of these “fans” that cares more about what their fave fighter’s business dealings are than actually getting the best fights?
As a fan of the sport - who cares what the lawyers discuss behind closed doors - ultimately what really matters as a sport is who fights who, and when.
At the end of the day - yes, if one party is fiscally amateur enough to write themselves into a corner contractually over a fight that now means absolutely nothing - then by the letter of the the law they’ll probably have to pay for those ill advised actions.
But my point is - WHY do you care more about that, and even go so far as to seem actually happy we’re now not gonna get, in sporting terms - something special, and rare, for the sport - all to see something that we’ve seen twice already and had a very conclusive answer for (and that has in all sporting terms about 1/10th of the value and intrigue)? Why are you happy that had happened?!
Also what says I am happy about the ruling? What did I type specifically that shows any form of emotion for the ruling when the truth is I am actually bummed out about it.
Also, I had and wanted Fury winning both fights and would unquestionably expect him to win the third. I also highly favor him vs Joshua or any HW in the division.
Like I said, what I want and saying what is right are 2 complete different things.
This always had to happen. This was always a thing, the real crime here comes from the disillusioned casuals that don't understand how contracts work.
Why can't you be a fan of what is right and a boxing fan simultaneously?
In this case the right thing for Fury to do is honor the contract regardless of what I would prefer in the boxing sense, wanting to side with being on the right side of things doesn't make me any less of a boxing fan.
But I find your position to criticize any fan on their love for the sport highly questionable as it appears to me that you're more of a Fury fan than a boxing one.
The ruling doesn't stop the potential or possibility for an undisputed Champion, it just delays it. The fact is, AJ can still fight whoever the winner is from Fury/Wilder.
You say you’re a boxing fan but you don’t seem to care about missing out on the chance to get an Undisputed HW champion for the first time in a generation, and the first 4-belt Undisputed HW champ ever?
You just seem really blase over it, and care more about the inner workings of a board room meeting behind closed doors than the biggest, most interesting fight.
Maybe because you don’t understand the boxing world as much and are focussed more on the business side, but you don’t seem to get or realise this absolutely does ruin undisputed plans.
You seem to care so much about contracts - yet wilfully ignore or are ignorant to the fact that as soon as/if the undisputed fight doesn’t happen in this small window - then all the mandatories and obligations then roll into effect, fracturing the titles once again and putting everyone’s timelines off kilter. 4 belts means huge variables.
It literally took years for the stars to align for this undisputed moment to be viable - and you’re enjoying it being ruined for the sake of a meaningless fight (sporting wise).
I get Wilder has contractual rights - fact is, Fury’s team exposed themselves by putting in place shackling and narrow sighted contractual obligations. Bad business.
But as I’ve said time and time again - this isn’t a business fan forum, this is a sport. Those things are factors to our sport, and conversation pieces for sure - but never should trump or take precedent over why we watch in the first place - for the best fights. Period.
We’re sports fans first, not Buisness aficionados as paramount.
To act like this is good for “fans of the sport” is ludicrous.
Funny how these things go, yesterday the fight was ON today the fight is OFF......... If I did not know better I would think they are all working together to build up a fight, to create interest.
If you follow Dan then you know THIS ISN'T A SURPRISE! Wilder always had a very strong case. So many fans talked so much CRAP and knew NOTHING about the details of this situation. I'm happy that Wilder fought this all the way through and for his sake won in the end. If I'm him I wouldnt even take the step aside money. Not one dime. I make fury fight me right away and I try to knock him TF out. Period. Case closed.
Legal precedents are troublesome things. Wilder will be offered the biggest step aside fee in the history of boxing. Will he take the sure payday? He's a man with a lot of pride.
Boxing. So predictable.
If I was Wilder I’d take the step aside money. He had two things working for him. A gargantuan punch and 125% confidence. Now he’s just got one….
Great story Dan. I do think Fury should have given him the rematch anyway. I understand Deontay making excuses when he lost, but Wilder gave Fury a shot when he did not have to as well. You definitely should do a podcast Dan. Leverage your years of relationships and get some great guests. Maybe do a face-off segment with Boxers on different sides of the street to let them air out there differences. Just an idea.
Bottom line is either Wilder or Joshua have no chance of winning. So really not much missed here. And the calibur of these 3 heavies are really not good. It's just what's out there at this time. Man I miss the Holmes, Tyson, Lewis, Shavers, Foreman, Bowe, Fraizer, Witherspoon, Ali, etc era.
The fact that you have Fury everywhere in this mix guarantees chaos. Fury is unstable , volatile and erratic in his daily quotes and I can well imagine how difficult it must be to negotiate anything with him. All of these guys need to fight one another and preferably more than once but it's pretty frustrating to see the circus it always has surrounding every aspect of it. The whole thing stinks to bloody hell and doesn't do much for the sport of boxing , it really needs to be fixed or regulated in some way. With the contracts today it's surprising that there isn't more clarity legally than there seems to be beforehand.
Boxing fans can be an odd bunch. I’ve seen a good amount actually rejoicing at this news. The news that effectively ends any chance of seeing the first Undisputed and Fully Unified HW champion of the world, and the sport, in a generation (if enforceable). It ruins the window and will fracture the division again with all the mandatories circling.
It’s like those “fans” don’t understand what a rare thing was on the cusp of happening. And actually, something not yet done fully in the 4-belt era (Lewis beat the “reigning” WBO champion Akinwande in 97, but the title was so little regarded at the time - Henry actually had to relinquish the title before fighting. It wasn’t until about 2007 that the WBO got unified recognition so it’s never actually been done)
And to be happy to not get that chance just feels self-destructive to the sport you purportedly claim to follow. And for what? A second rematch off the back of a fight that ended so conclusively last time that is literally not sporting merit or reason to see it again. Certainly not straight away.
And we wonder why the sport eats itself some times. This could have been a special summer - now we all gotta get dragged through this nonsense for months instead.
Well, hopefully not. But as a boxing fan, I know hoping for the right thing can be futile.
What the hell are you saying? The right thing *HERE* is that Fury honors the original contract and gives Wilder his rematch. I'm all for an undisputed champion and I am not a Wilder fan in the slightest. But contract is binding and if it was the other way around and Fury was knocked out then you would probably be on his side for the rematch.
The thing the advocates for an immediate Wilder-Fury rematch which I happen to agree with , is that Wilder fell apart after his loss , started making all kinds of excuses , " they shouldn't have stopped it I was ok " his costume was too heavy , Fury had loaded gloves , or a phantom thumb , he basically fell apart. He then went into a long , dark tunnel of withdrawal and frankly I think he just now is beginning to get over the loss. Any and every fighter will lose eventually if they hang around long enough , the greatness comes with how they react to a loss , do they pick themselves up and come back stronger than ever ? Or are they never again the same ? These are the questions moving forward that these three champs need to answer to the boxing world but also to themselves.
Ah, so you’re one of these “fans” that cares more about what their fave fighter’s business dealings are than actually getting the best fights?
As a fan of the sport - who cares what the lawyers discuss behind closed doors - ultimately what really matters as a sport is who fights who, and when.
At the end of the day - yes, if one party is fiscally amateur enough to write themselves into a corner contractually over a fight that now means absolutely nothing - then by the letter of the the law they’ll probably have to pay for those ill advised actions.
But my point is - WHY do you care more about that, and even go so far as to seem actually happy we’re now not gonna get, in sporting terms - something special, and rare, for the sport - all to see something that we’ve seen twice already and had a very conclusive answer for (and that has in all sporting terms about 1/10th of the value and intrigue)? Why are you happy that had happened?!
Like I say, boxing “fans” can be an odd bunch...
Also what says I am happy about the ruling? What did I type specifically that shows any form of emotion for the ruling when the truth is I am actually bummed out about it.
Also, I had and wanted Fury winning both fights and would unquestionably expect him to win the third. I also highly favor him vs Joshua or any HW in the division.
Like I said, what I want and saying what is right are 2 complete different things.
This always had to happen. This was always a thing, the real crime here comes from the disillusioned casuals that don't understand how contracts work.
Why can't you be a fan of what is right and a boxing fan simultaneously?
In this case the right thing for Fury to do is honor the contract regardless of what I would prefer in the boxing sense, wanting to side with being on the right side of things doesn't make me any less of a boxing fan.
But I find your position to criticize any fan on their love for the sport highly questionable as it appears to me that you're more of a Fury fan than a boxing one.
The ruling doesn't stop the potential or possibility for an undisputed Champion, it just delays it. The fact is, AJ can still fight whoever the winner is from Fury/Wilder.
You say you’re a boxing fan but you don’t seem to care about missing out on the chance to get an Undisputed HW champion for the first time in a generation, and the first 4-belt Undisputed HW champ ever?
You just seem really blase over it, and care more about the inner workings of a board room meeting behind closed doors than the biggest, most interesting fight.
Maybe because you don’t understand the boxing world as much and are focussed more on the business side, but you don’t seem to get or realise this absolutely does ruin undisputed plans.
You seem to care so much about contracts - yet wilfully ignore or are ignorant to the fact that as soon as/if the undisputed fight doesn’t happen in this small window - then all the mandatories and obligations then roll into effect, fracturing the titles once again and putting everyone’s timelines off kilter. 4 belts means huge variables.
It literally took years for the stars to align for this undisputed moment to be viable - and you’re enjoying it being ruined for the sake of a meaningless fight (sporting wise).
I get Wilder has contractual rights - fact is, Fury’s team exposed themselves by putting in place shackling and narrow sighted contractual obligations. Bad business.
But as I’ve said time and time again - this isn’t a business fan forum, this is a sport. Those things are factors to our sport, and conversation pieces for sure - but never should trump or take precedent over why we watch in the first place - for the best fights. Period.
We’re sports fans first, not Buisness aficionados as paramount.
To act like this is good for “fans of the sport” is ludicrous.
Funny how these things go, yesterday the fight was ON today the fight is OFF......... If I did not know better I would think they are all working together to build up a fight, to create interest.
If you follow Dan then you know THIS ISN'T A SURPRISE! Wilder always had a very strong case. So many fans talked so much CRAP and knew NOTHING about the details of this situation. I'm happy that Wilder fought this all the way through and for his sake won in the end. If I'm him I wouldnt even take the step aside money. Not one dime. I make fury fight me right away and I try to knock him TF out. Period. Case closed.
Legal precedents are troublesome things. Wilder will be offered the biggest step aside fee in the history of boxing. Will he take the sure payday? He's a man with a lot of pride.
Nice work Dan, thanks for keeping us up to date on the latest drama in boxing. You should do a podcast.