By Scott Gilfoid: Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury beat Francesco Pianeta and interim WBO featherweight champion Carl Frampton had little trouble in knocking out an embarrassingly over-matched Luke Jackson in the 9th round on Saturday night in a doubleheader at Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
(Photo credit: Chris Roberts/Frank Warren)
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will be facing Fury next in a title defense that figures to be an easy one for the Bronze Bomber. Wilder must feel like he just won the lottery with how bad Fury looked. There’s very little risk for Wilder in defending against the shot-looking Fury in November. It’s going to be a tremendous payday for Wilder to defend against Fury, and the best part of all is there’s very little risk involved in the fight. The contract still isn’t signed for the fight, so there’s always the chance that Fury could back out once he comes to his senses and realizes what little chance he has of beating Wilder.
Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) outscored the 33-year-old former 2-time heavyweight world title challenger Pianeta by a 100-90 score. This was a referee’s decision by Steve Gray of the UK. That was score was dead on correct as far as I’m concerned. Pianeta came close to winning no rounds tonight. He had look of someone that was just glad to be there for the payday. The high point in the fight was a textbook low blow from Pianeta in the 8th. It’s a good thing the referee didn’t blow the call otherwise Fury would have gotten a controversial stoppage, which would have marred the fight even more than the referee Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker contest. The referee in that fight gave Whyte credit for a knockdown in round 2 after Whyte rammed his head into the skull of Parker causing him to go down. The results of the knockdown gave Whyte the win.
The two fights were shown on Showtime Boxing in the United States. Fury’s victory over Pianeta (35-5-1, 21 KOs) locks him in for a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Fury’s lack of power will place him at a huge disadvantage against Wilder. Fury looked easier to hit tonight than he never had before he took his two and half year absence from the ring. The defense isn’t there for Fury, and the little bit of power that he once had is entirely gone. The punches that Fury threw tonight against Pianeta wouldn’t crack an egg, and I’m being kind here.
Fury looked painfully weak. The fight looked like a glorified sparring session between Fury and the 33-year-old Pianeta. Fury looked like he was trying his hardest to knockout Pianeta and look good, but he couldn’t get the job done. It was all Fury could do to win the rounds. Fury’s hand speed and power was nowhere to be seen. As bad as Fury looked, he retired Wladimir Klitschko would have knocked him out tonight without any warm-up. The Fury that beat Wladimir is gone. What is left is a slow, plodding fighter with no hand speed, punching power or defense. It’s going to be too easy for Wilder to knockout Fury when they face each other in November.
Tyson Fury report card – C –
. Punching power – weak
. Hand speed – slow
. Defense – poor
. Stamina – good
. Ring IQ – Fair
“I think it was a calculated boxing performance, as promised,” said Fury in boasting about his performance in beating the hapless Pianeta after the fight. “We were able to get 10 good rounds in with a tough man. I was working on my boxing, trying to slip and slide, use the jab and get the rounds in. I was very happy with the performance.”
Fury shouldn’t be happy about his performance against the Italian Pianeta because he looked something awful in the fight. Pianeta had no problems hitting Fury with whatever he threw. The only thing that limited Pianeta’s success inside the ring was his slow feet. If he had been able to shuffle around the ring a little quicker, he would have gotten to Fury and given him a real run for his money. I’m not saying that Pianeta would have won, because he was dreadfully bad tonight, but he would have given Fury some issues. This was not the same Fury that beat Wladimir Klitschko three years ago. He’s lost a lot from his game. Fury was still showing a lot of the same moves that he used to beat Wladimir, but he looked poor in comparison tonight due to his loss of speed. At 258 pounds, Fury is too heavy to compete at a high level. He needs to lose another 15 pounds of excess flab to get back to where he was when he beat Wladimir. The thing is, I’m not sure that Fury can get back to the same fighter he was in 2015 no matter how hard he tries.
“It’s no secret I need the rounds. I need to prove that I can go 10 rounds and have plenty left in the tank, and I did that tonight,” Fury said.
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder was allowed to enter the ring after the fight. Fury shoved Wilder and then took off running in the opposite direction after telling the boxing fans in attendance that he’s going to beat him. It wasn’t a good look for Fury to shove Wider and then run away from him immediately after. That just looked like he was afraid what the ‘Bronze Bomber’ would do to him in return. Fury needed worry, as Wilder wasn’t going to blow his huge fight against him by braining him on the spot. Fury, Wilder and promoter Frank Warren announced their fight for later this year. The date and venue will be announced shortly for Showtime pay-per-view.
“We’re ready now,” Wilder said. “This fight will happen. It’s on. This fight is official. This is what we’ve been waiting for, the best fighting the best.”
Interim World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KOs) took apart Luke Jackson (16-1, 7 KOs) in stopping him in round 9 after his corner threw in the towel. The fight was stopped at 1:21 of round nine. Jackson’s corner should have thrown in the towel in the 8th round after Jackson was knocked down with a body shot. He looked done at that point, and there was no reason to keep him out there to take punishment.
Frampton, 31, wants to challenge WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez now. However, he’ll have to be satisfied with going after IBF champion Josh Warrington, as Valdez is coming off of a broken jaw and his promoters at Top Rank aren’t going to let him take a fight against Frampton in his first fight back. Warrington was in attendance to scout out Frampton’s fight. He’ll likely be his next fight. That’s a very winnable fight for Frampton. Warrington can’t punch, and he clearly doesn’t belong as a belt holder
Carl Frampton report card – B –
. Speed – good
. Power – good
. Defense – Excellent
. Mobility – good
Frampton put Jackson down with a body shot late in the 8th round. It was a surprise that Jackson was able to make it out of the round without getting stopped because he looked finished at that point. Jackson got up and continued to take shots.
“This was unreal,” Frampton said. “The atmosphere was special, the crowd was fantastic and they made my dream come true. It was unbelievable from start to finish.”
Frampton needs to be fighting better opposition than Jackson. The guy is too old to be facing such poor opposition. He should have used a better contender tonight to stay sharp for a fight against Warrington or Oscar Valdez. Jackson is not the type of fighter that Frampton should be fighting right now because he’s trying to get ready for bigger fights. He doesn’t need to be taking on such weak opposition at this advanced stage in his career.
