By Sam Minion: We’re now into fight-week and the biggest heavyweight fight of 2018 is only 5 days away, the time for talking is almost over so here we look at 5 of the biggest questions that surround the huge fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder set to take place at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
1. Will we see the same Tyson Fury that beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015?
Much has been made of Fury’s redemption from mental health, drug problems and the small feat of losing over 150lbs to bring himself back into a huge fight with Deontay Wilder. Fury has shown some of the excellent boxing skills he posses in wins of Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta although the standard of these comeback fights is nowhere near the level he will face on Saturday. After Fury’s majestic win over Klitschko in Düsseldorf in 2015 many boxing fans and experts would have tipped Fury to then go to America and beat Wilder but as we have seen a lot has happened since then so it still remains to be seen whether Fury can reach this level again facing world class opposition.
2. Will Fury be able to cope with Wilder’s power?
Wilder has knocked out all of his previous opponents, the only man to have lasted 12 rounds with Wilder was Bermane Stiverne in 2015 although 2 years later Wilder savagely finished Stiverne in the first round of their second fight. Fury’s chin has been tested previously and he picked himself up off the canvas to gain an impressive win against Steve Cunningham back in 2013 but will inactivity have had any effect on Fury’s punch resistance? Wilder has an impressive knock out reel and it seems likely that at some point in the fight he will put pressure on Fury to try and get that big knock out, will Fury still have the slickness and more importantly the chin to absolve this pressure and be able to get through big moments in the fight?
3. Has Wilder got the boxing skills to overcome Fury?
Boxing fans online have ridiculed some of the footage that has come out of Wilder on the pads training for this fight, his style is unorthodox and at times not exactly pretty but it’s certainly effective. Fury, whose style is also unorthodox, is much the better boxing technically and when he beat Klitschko in 2015 Wladimir seemed unable to cope with Fury’s boxing skills as he switched between and orthodox and southpaw stance with ease. This could be something that could take Wilder some time to get to grips with and it would not be a surprise to see Fury nicking the early rounds as both fighters look to work each other out, but, as the fight progresses with Wilder be able to get through to Fury and put him on the back foot, something with Wladimir Klitschko was unable to do.
4. Will the fight capture the imagination of the American audience?
Tickets for the fight are still available and with the costly nature of Pay-Per-View fights in the States many are still unsure whether the wider American audience will tune in to watch the fight. Questions still remain about Wilder’s appeal outside of the hardcore boxing fanbase in America, it seems hard to believe that an American world champion heavyweight fighter is not a big star in the US given the history that America has with the world heavyweight belt. Maybe this is time for Wilder to step up and make himself a big name in American boxing and a big win over Fury in an entertaining bout would certainly help do so but a dull fight may not open up the casual support for either fighter. It will be interesting to see how many tickets and PPV buys the fight does as the build up by both Showtime in the US and BT Sport in the UK has been impressive but a lot will come down to the actual fight, there is pressure on each fighter to win and also win looking good to open up more opportunities in the future.
5. Will we see the winner facing a showdown with Anthony Joshua in 2019?
Both Fury and Wilder have to be commended for taking this fight when far too often in boxing we fail to see the best of the best facing off against each other. Surely the winner of this fight will look to become the undisputed heavyweight champion by pushing for a fight with Anthony Joshua in 2019, although as we have already seen boxing politics may make it difficult for a fight to be negotiated. Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn have a long time strained relationship and with each promoter having the backing of BT Sports and Sky Sports respectively this could potentially be another stumbling block for the fight if Fury were to be victorious, a re-match clause will Wilder if Fury does win the fight could also block a fight with Joshua happening any time soon. On the other hand, if Wilder was to win the fight we could then be back to a war of words between Eddie Hearn and Shelly Finkel. A win over Fury would strengthen Wilder and Finkel’s hand in any potential future negotiations with Joshua and Hearn, although with the current boxing boom in the UK revolving mainly around Anthony Joshua he would still be seen by many as the A-side in the fight.
With so many more questions still to be answered one thing’s for sure, by Sunday morning we will know what the outcome of the fight will be but this may just create more questions than answers as the public’s eye will soon turn to an even bigger showdown with Anthony Joshua.