By Jake Tiernan: Eddie Hearn says that WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is “weird” for him turning down potential mega-fights against Anthony Joshua & Oleksandr Usyk, which would help him create a lasting legacy.
Fury said this week during his press conference with former UFC fighter Francis Ngannou that he views Joshua & Usyk as not worth his time to fight.
The fights that he wants are Jon Jones & Ngannou in the cage, and Fury didn’t sound like he was joking. He had a look on his face like he was as serious as a heart attack.
While this may seem odd to Hearn & the average boxing fan, it’s actually quite normal. Fury is a product of a person who has become eccentric due to massive wealth. When people become incredibly wealthy, they often do whatever they please and the heck with what the public wants.
Fury hasn’t gotten to the Howard Hughes level of eccentricity, isolating himself, sitting naked in a dark room, using tissue papers to touch objects.
With a net worth estimated at $65 million and likely heading to $100 million if it’s not already there, with his fights Ngannou & Jon Jones, Fury appears to no longer feel he should be confined by what is expected of him as a holder of a world title belt.
As such, instead of Fury fighting the guys the boxing public wants him to compete against, Joshua & Usyk, he’s choosing Nganou, Jones, Dereck Chisora & Dillian Whyte.
“He said he’s not interested in AJ, he’s not interested in undisputed, he’s not interested in [Oleksandr] Usyk. He says he just wants the ‘Big Boys,’ but I don’t know who is bigger than those two,” said Eddie Hearn to Pro Boxing Champions, reacting to Tyson Fury saying this week that he has no interest in fighting Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk.
“There’s massive money for those fights, and there’s legacy for those fights, so hopefully, he [Fury] wants to create a great legacy in boxing. He may be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. I think he should try and prove it,” said Hearn.
Fury is being paid well by the Saudis to fight non-boxer Ngannou on October 28th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, so there’s no need for him to risk his hide fighting Joshua or Usyk.
The Saudis will likely continue to pay Fury massive money for his crossover fights against MMA guys. Yeah, it’s offputting to the average boxing fan, but there are a lot of casuals who love this kind of thing.
With his expanding waistline & advancing age, the 35-year-old Fury is going to go in the direction of the easy money against non-boxers, as long as someone is willing to pay. As Evander Holyfield once said, ‘People like to do the easy thing,’ and Fury is a classic example of that.
What’s going to be interesting is to seee how long the WBC allows Fury to hold onto their title before they strip him for failing to defend it.
“You can’t [claim you’re one of the best heavyweights of all time],” said Hearn when told that British Youtuber True Geordie said that Fury is ‘Pathetic, he’s had three title defenses and claiming he’s one of the greatest of all time.
“He may be. I think he’s favorite against Usyk and favorite against AJ at the moment, but until he fights them, you can’t say you’re one of the greatest heavyweights ever, and that’s what’s frustrating because he may be,” said Hearn about Fury.
“In sport, it’s about trying to prove that you’re one of the best, and when there are bundles of money that comes with it as well, it’s just weird that you don’t want to take those fights. But we’ll see what happens in the future, and hopefully, we can get them over the line,” said Hearn about a Fury vs. Joshua fight.