Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder gate totals = BIGGEST in heavyweight history in Nevada

By Boxing News - 03/03/2020 - Comments

By Kenneth Friedman: Deontay Wilder’s rematch with Tyson Fury brought in big numbers on the official gate on February 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Nevada Commissions numbers that they’ve passed on to ESPN, the Wilder-Fury 2 rematch pulled in a huge $16,916,440, making it the suggest seller for a heavyweight fight in the history of Nevada.

That’s pretty good for a fight that turned out to be a let down as far as competitiveness. Fury mopped the deck with WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) in knocking him out in seven rounds.

Wilder vs. Fury 2 breaks gate records in Nevada

The previous gate high for a heavyweight clash was the 1999 fight between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. That contest brought in$16,830,300 at the gate. That was a fight between two proven heavyweights with huge star power. If that same fight were to take place today, it’s likely that the gate numbers would dwarf the Wilder vs. Fury 2 rematch numbers.

There were 15,210 tickets sold with just 84 comps given out for the Wilder-Fury fight, and that’s not surprising. Fans were really eager to see the Wilder vs. Fury fight.

Unfortunately, we probably won’t see the same amount of interest from fans for the trilogy fight between the two fighters on July 18. That’s when Wilder and Fury will meet for a third and possibly final time.

Wilder executed his rematch clause for a rematch with Fury this week, and it’s now official that the to will be battling in the summer. People were hoping that Wilder would step aside and let Fury face champion Anthony Joshua in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship in the summer, but that’s not happening. Wilder is going to give it last try to beat Fury, and go down with his ship if need be.

Wilder’s outfit excuse taints fight

“Listen, I reckon the ring walk outfit was heavy, but if that was the reason, leave it. Don’t say anything,” said Eddie Hearn to TheRingDigital in talking about Wilder. “Did you hear what he said, ‘I trained with a 45-lb weight vest on.’ He didn’t look right in the ring, Wilder.”

“There’s been a lot of times when Tyson Fury wasn’t entertaining to watch, but he was really entertaining to watch on Saturday night. I want to see more of that,” said Hearn to Boxing Social. “I don’t think you’ll see a whole lot more of that just like I don’t think you’ll see a whole lore more one AJ’s style against Andy Ruiz.

The only time I’ll write him off again is against AJ. He fights to the level [of his opponents]. If you put him in with Wallin, he doesn’t look great. But when you put him in when he’d fired up, he’s done brilliantly well,” said Hearn.

It would be a good idea for Wilder to take the high road and not complain or come up with excuses if he loses to Fury again. Fans don’t want to hear Wilders excuses, and it’s forlorn to hear him trying to explain away his defeat.