Notebook: As Fury focuses on Whyte fight, he also reflects on his 'amazing journey'

Big Fight Weekend podcast; Mike Tyson in altercation; Hatton-Barrera exhibition; TR finalizes Valdez-Stevenson undercard; Spence-Ugas PPV numbers; Quick hits; Show and tell

Apr 22, 2022

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With heavyweight champion Tyson Fury saying he is about to have his last fight, he has been a bit reflective this week.

“The Gypsy King” is set to defend the lineal championship for the eighth time and the WBC belt for the second time when he squares off with WBC interim titlist and mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte on Saturday (ESPN PPV in the U.S. for $69.99, BT Sport Box Office in the U.K., 2 p.m. ET) in what is a massive event in the United Kingdom.

A post-war European boxing record crowd of some 94,000 is expected at Wembley Stadium in London for the all-British showdown.

The 34-year-old Fury (30-0-1, 22 KOs), who is seemingly still at the top of his game, has said repeatedly that he will retire after the fight even though many remain skeptical.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” Fury said this week. “From where I started all those years ago to the ups and downs and being away from boxing and being fat as fuck, 28 stone. To coming back and being mentally out, a druggie and an alcoholic — all of the rest of the stuff — I’m not ashamed of it. It’s a part of who I am.”

After Fury dethroned longtime unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, he went into a downward spiral of substance abuse, massive weight gain and mental health issues that had him contemplating suicide.

He was eventually stripped of the alphabet belts after failing multiple drug tests for cocaine prior to a rematch with Klitschko. Fury did not fight for 31 months before making his return in 2018.

He started with a pair of lesser bouts, a knockout of Sefer Seferi and a decision over Francesco Pianetta, to help him get back into shape.

Then he fought to a disputed draw with then-WBC titlist Deontay Wilder in December 2018. Wins over Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin would follow before Fury dominated and knocked out Wilder to take the WBC crown in their rematch in February 2020 in a mega event.

Eventually Fury and Wilder completed their memorable trilogy this past October in one of the all-time great heavyweight championship fights. Fury’s 11th-round knockout win in a slugfest — the consensus 2021 fight of the year — saw Fury knocked down twice and Wilder down three times.

“To coming back and getting back to the top of the world and having three big fights with Deontay Wilder over there in the U.S., and now being back in England after all these years, four years away, and now I’m fighting my old pal Dillian Whyte back at home for all the glory and all the belts,” Fury said. “Who would have thought it? We’re looking forward to an awesome, memorable night. This will break all records in Europe. For a boxing match between two old boys who people wrote off through most of our careers, we ain't done bad, have we?”

Fury and Whyte have known each other for years. Whyte used to train in his camp and they sparred years ago. Fury has given the longtime contender his due.

“Dillian Whyte is a good fighter,” Fury said. “He is a good, strong, solid man. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s tough. He’s game. He’s got good power. He’s knocked out a lot of men. He’s had a good learning career as well. He’s got a lot of experience in the fight game.

“He’s definitely a man that needs a lot of respect. And that’s why I’ve given all this training camp we’ve had. I’ve had everything I can possibly do to train for this. I’ve haven’t left any stones unturned. I’ve trained as hard for Dillian as I have for Wilder or Klitschko.”

Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), 34, in turn, has also shown respect for Fury this week, when he finally engaged in the promotion after ironing out a contract beef with promoter Frank Warren.

“This is one of those fights where I’ve been working on being adaptable,” Whyte said. “I’m going to have to adapt, make smarts decisions when I need to do what and how I need to do it, and how I need to approach what I’m doing. So that’s it. There’s no strategy here. That’s it. I just need to go in there and do my thing.”

Big Fight Weekend podcast

I joined TJ Rives for the Big Fight Weekend preview podcast in which we previewed Saturday’s Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte heavyweight championship fight. We also talked a bit about the prospect of an Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford fight and Hasim Rahman’s shocking upset of Lennox Lewis to win the heavyweight title 21 years ago this week. TJ was also joined by other guests. Get ready for Saturday’s big fight by giving it a listen.

Tyson airplane altercation

Mike Tyson was involved in an altercation with a passenger seated behind him on a JetBlue flight getting ready to leave San Francisco International Airport for a destination in Florida on Wednesday night.

TMZ posted a short video of the 55-year-old former heavyweight champion apparently striking a male passenger multiple times and the passenger then bleeding from his forehead at about 10:06 p.m. PT. According to the report, Tyson then walked off the plane.

TMZ reported, via sources close to Tyson, that the unidentified passenger was intoxicated and provoking Tyson and that witnesses said Tyson had initially taken selfies with some passengers but that the man seated behind him would not leave him alone, resulting in Tyson’s outburst.

San Francisco police responded to the scene and detained two people they believed to be involved in the incident even though Tyson had left. The TMZ report said San Francisco police have forwarded the video to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

Hatton vs. Barrera

British legend Ricky Hatton, the former junior welterweight word champion, who also won a welterweight title, announced he will face Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera in an eight-round exhibition bout on July 2 at AO Arena in Manchester, England, Hatton’s hometown. The weight was not announced.

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you can’t do. With mental health your head hears things such as this constantly,” Hatton wrote on social media. “You can’t do this, you can’t do that, nobody loves me, I’m useless, I’ve had enough, I want to give up, etc. I was in that place several years back. Well I changed my way of thinking and my attitude. I had to be positive in everything I did as a father, a grandfather, a son, a boxing trainer. AS A MAN.

“In doing that I’m in a position come July 2nd to show everyone what you can do & how you can put your life back on track if you live by them rules, take them steps & make the changes needed. You can come out of the darkness into to the light. Let’s be positive. If you don’t believe me wait & see the show me & Marco Antonio Barrera are gonna put on for you July 2nd. We’re retired, not dead. I still have dreams. I’m living them. It’s not how you fall, it’s how you rise that defines us.”

Hatton has not boxed since suffering a ninth-round knockout against former welterweight titlist Vyacheslav Senchenko, at the same arena in Manchester, in November 2012. Hatton had come out of a 2½-year retirement following his brutal KO loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2009.

Three-division champion Barrera (67-7, 44 KOs), 48, who retired in 2011, boxed in exhibitions with Daniel Ponce De Leon and Jesus Soto Karass last year.

FightHype interview

I joined my longtime pal Lance Pugmire of FightHype to preview Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte, review Errol Spence Jr.’s sensational win over Yordenis Ugas and discuss the possibility of a Spence-Terence Crawford showdown. Lots of good stuff. Watch the two-part video here:

Valdez-Stevenson undercard

Top Rank announced the remainder of the undercard of the Oscar Valdez-Shakur Stevenson junior lightweight unification fight on April 30 (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

In the portion of the card exclusive to ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET), lightweight up-and-comer Raymond Muratalla (13-0, 11 KOs), 25, of Fontana, California, will face Jeremy Hill (16-2, 11 KOs), 29, of New Orleans in an eight-rounder.

Also on the card:

Las Vegas junior lightweight Andres Cortes (16-0, 9 KOs), 24, who recently signed a multi-year deal with Top Rank, will face Mexico native Alexis del Bosque (18-5-1, 9 KOs), 27, in an eight-rounder.
Cleveland lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason (1-0, 1 KO), an 18-year-old southpaw, who turned pro at age 17 in November, will face Luciano Ramos (1-2, 0 KOs), 27, of Argentina, in a four-rounder.
Middleweight Troy Isley (4-0, 2 KOs), 23, a 2020 U.S. Olympian from Alexandria, Virginia, will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder. He has won two fights since returning to the pros following last summer’s delayed Games in Tokyo.
Lightweight Charlie Sheehy (2-0, 2 KOs), 23, of Brisbane, California, faces Burnell Jenkins (2-1, 1 KO), 30, of New Orleans, in a four-rounder.
Junior welterweight Antoine Cobb (1-0, 1 KO), 26, of Chicago, who a friend and training partner of Stevenson’s, faces Jaylan Phillips (1-2, 1 KO), 22, of Ebro, Florida, in a four-rounder.

The other two main card bouts were previously announced: the eight-round lightweight co-feature between 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (4-0, 3 KOs), 23, of Norfolk, Virginia, against Mexico native Esteban Sanchez (18-1, 8 KOs), 23, and middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (4-0, 3 KOs), 21, of Las Vegas, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, against Alejandro Ibarra (7-1, 2 KOs), 28, of Denver, in four-rounder.

Quick hits

The Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas Showtime PPV event generated approximately 240,000 buys — linear TV, satellite and streaming — in the United States, a source involved in the event told Fight Freaks Unite. That would translate to a gross of about $18 million in PPV money. The fight, which drew an announced crowd of 39,946 to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, also generated a gate of around $5 million. Showtime will replay the fight on Saturday (9 p.m. ET).

Lightweight Mercito Gesta, a two-time world title challenger coming off a 2½-year layoff, dropped Joel Diaz Jr. (26-3, 22 KOs), of Palmdale, California, 30, twice in the first round and went on to win a unanimous decision in the main event of the Golden Boy “Fight Night” card on DAZN on Thursday at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Gesta (33-3-3, 17 KOs), 34, a Filipino southpaw fighting out of San Diego, won 96-92, 96-92 and 95-93.

At its monthly meeting this week, the Nevada State Athletic Commission appointed the officials who will work two upcoming main events in Las Vegas, the April 30 Oscar Valdez-Shakur Stevenson junior lightweight title unification fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight title fight on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena. For Valdez-Stevenson, Kenny Bayless will be the referee and make $3,150. The judges will be Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and David Sutherland, each of whom will be paid $2,450. Russell Mora will referee Canelo-Bivol and make $10,000. Cheatham, Moretti and Steve Weisfeld will judge the fight and each will make $8,000.

Showtime will air a “ShoBox: The New Generation” card June 10 from the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, to coincide with the annual International Hall of Fame induction weekend in Canastota, which is 10 minutes from the casino. The inductions are June 12 and will include promoter Lou DiBella, the promoter of the card. The telecast will have four eight-round fights, including three heavyweight bouts. In the main event, Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov (10-0, 10 KOs), the 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, faces Belgium’s Jack Mulowayi (10-2-1, 5 KOs). In other heavyweight bouts: Mexico’s Elvis Garcia (12-0, 9 KOs) fights Cleveland’s Alante Green (10-0-1, 7 KOs) and Ukraine’s Iegor Plevako (7-0, 4 KOs) meets Iceland’s Gunnar Kolbeinn Kristinsson (12-0, 6 KOs). In the lightweight opener, Tyler Tomlin (13-0, 9 KOs), of Cheatham County, Tennessee, faces Quebec’s Chann Thonson (10-0, 7 KOs).

Matchroom Boxing announced the undercard for the Joshua Buatsi-Craig Richards card on May 21 (DAZN) at The O2 in London. Among the bouts the show will be exciting heavyweight Alen Babic (10-0, 10 KOs), 31, of Croatia, against Adam Balski (16-1, 9 KOs), 31, of Poland, in a 12-rounder, and England’s Robbie Davies Jr. (22-3, 15 KOs), 32, defending a regional junior welterweight belt against Javier Molina (22-4, 9 KOs), 32, of Norwalk, California. In a previously announced bout Chantelle Cameron (15-0, 8 KOs), 30, of England will defend her unified women’s junior welterweight title against former world titlist Victoria Noelia Bustos (23-6, 0 KOs), 33, of Argentina. A win will propel Cameron into an already-made fight with Kali Reis for the undisputed title.

Show and tell

After Evander Holyfield regained the heavyweight championship in his rematch with Riddick Bowe, he made the first defense of his second reign against the unbeaten power-punching Michael Moorer in a major TVKO (the original name of HBO PPV) pay-per-view event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Holyfield dropped Moorer with a left hook in the second round and Moorer opened a cut over Holyfield’s left eye in the fifth round. By the late rounds, however, Holyfield was fatigued and lost a majority decision, 116-112, 115-114 and 114-114.

After the fight, Holyfield was hospitalized with various issues — dehydration, a rotator cuff injury and a heart ailment, all of which somewhat overshadowed Moorer’s achievement of scoring the upset and becoming the first left-handed heavyweight champion. The fight was on April 22, 1994 — 28 years ago on Friday. Here is a program from the fight in my collection.

Tyson photo: Joe Scarnici/Triller

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