By Scott Gilfoid: It’s now official that WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and lineal champ Tyson Fury will be fighting in LESS than 2 months from now on February 22 with the VACANT Ring Magazine belt at take in their rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
WBC, Ring and Lineal titles at stake for Wilder-Fury 2
Poor Anthony Joshua and his wily promoter Eddie Hearn probably won’t take the news well about the Ring Magazine heavyweight title being on the line for the Wilder-Fury 2 fight. AJ holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, and he and Eddie will likely be confused about why the vacant Ring Magazine title being up for grabs in the Wilder vs Fury 2 fight, given that there’s only one physical title [WBC] that will be fought over in that fight.
Fury’s lineal title is an INVISIBLE one that pretty much no one ever talks about or values. As such, the only titles that mean anything that will be up for grabs for the Wilder vs. Fury II rematch are the Ring Magazine and WBC belts.
Ring Magazine currently has the following following rankings at heavyweight:
1). Tyson Fury
2). Deontay Wilder
3). Anthony Joshua
4). Dillian Whyte
5). Luis Ortiz
6). Andy Ruiz Jr.
7). Alexander Povetkin
8). Joseph Parker
9). Michael Hunter
10). Adam Kownacki
The Ring Magazine crew probably factored in Joshua’s recent knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. when they decided to have their title up for grabs for the Wilder-Fury 2 fight. After all, those two are the perceived #1 and #2 heavyweights in the division. Joshua and Ruiz were basically bringing up the rear when it comes to the top heavyweights in the division.
Wilder and Fury are both UNBEATEN, which obviously goes a long way when it comes to the Ring Magazine rankings. Once upon a time, Joshua was undefeated as well, but Ruiz marred AJ’s record recently in stopping him in the 7th round last June.
After Joshua and Ruiz, there’s a HUGE drop off to the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, Dillian Whyte, Luis Ortiz, Kubrat Pulev and Adam Kownacki. We won’t know who the top guy is among those fighters for a while until one of them rises up and does something with their respective careers.
Deontay vows to make sure no controversy exists in Fury rematchÂ
“I proved myself the first time and I’m ready to do it again,” said Wilder about his previous fight against Fury. “It was a very controversial fight. I promise my fans that there won’t be any controversy with this one. I’m going to finish it.”
Oh boy, it sounds like Wilder really wants to take the judges – and the referee – out of the equation this time. Wilder doesn’t want the referee giving another count to Fury if he knocks him cold like he did last time they fought. That was one of the strangest fights that Gilfoid has seen in ages. Wilder knocked out Fury to the point where he was asleep in the 12th, and the referee Jack Reiss opted to give a count to the unconscious Fury. You just don’t see that kind of stuff anymore.
