By Scott Gilfoid: Britain’s Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) thinks he should be the one to fight the winner of the Chris Arreola vs. Bermane Stiverne fight rather than unbeaten American talent Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s). The Arreola-Stiverne bout will be for the vacant WBC heavyweight title that used to belong to Vitali Klitschko until he vacated the strap earlier this week.
Unfortunately for Fury, the WBC has pushed him down in the rankings to #8 because he hasn’t stayed active and has been resting on his laurels since his close call win against Steve Cunningham last April. In the meantime, the WBC has pushed the 6’7″ Deontay to #3 in the WBC rankings. As such, Deontay is the one that is in line to fight the winner of the Arreola-Stiverne fight, not Fury. I hate to say it, but that’s just the way it is. When you snooze you lose, and Fury has been sitting around doing nothing for the past 8 months, and the only fight he had scheduled against David Haye, it went down the drain with Haye’s injury.
“Deontay thinks he’s going to get somewhere,” Fury said toOn the Ropes Boxing Radio. “If Deontay gets a shot at the WBC before me, then boxing is definitely corrupt, because he’s still a nobody. His last fight was against Nicolai Firtha, who I beat 3 years ago. He does not deserve to fight for the WBC title before me. He’s fought a lot of bums. 30-0, and now he wants to fight for the world title. Deontay Wilder is a disaster waiting to happen.”
Fury had the chance to fight Deontay recently to try and pick up his #3 spot, but after Golden Boy Promotions made an offer to Fury and his team, there reportedly was silence from Fury’s side and the fight never materialized. There you go. Fury had his chance to try and get Deontay’s high position in the WBC rankings, and he blew it by not taking the fight. Before that, Fury had the chance to fight for the IBF mandatory spot against unbeaten Kubrat Pulev, and instead of doing that, Fury tried to get a fight against Haye. That one didn’t happen, and Fury missed out on the Pulev fight.
Look at the missed opportunities for Fury. He could have fought Pulev AND Deontay this year, but instead he fought the 209 lb. fringe contender Steve Cunningham. What does that tell you about Fury? He chooses not to fight Pulev and Deontay and instead fights Cunningham. Does a fighter like that deserve to fight the winner of the Arreola vs. Stiverne fight? I don’t think so. Fury needs to get in the back of the line and start fighting some quality contenders for a change. And while he’s at it, he should work on staying on his feet because it looks bad with him getting knocked down left and right by weak opposition.
Deontay is #3 in the WBC’s rankings because he’s knocking everyone out and he’s not getting dropped like Fury has been. That’s the difference as far as I can tell.
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