By Jake Tiernan: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is quickly making a mockery of the sport with his fight against non-boxer Francis Ngannou and his soft title defenses against subpar heavyweights Dereck Chisora & Dillian Whyte.
The WBC should put their foot down and strip Fury if he goes through with this fight with Ngannou because it’s not fair to the contenders in the heavyweight division that are waiting for their title shots.
It would be one thing for Fury to be taking a fight with former UFC champion Ngannou if he no longer held a world title, but he’s still holding it.
With Fury still in possession of his WBC belt, you have to believe that’s helping the promotion of his fight against Ngannou because he’s viewed as a champ, which gives his circus-level fight credibility.
If Fury were retired or belt-less, his fight with Ngannou would be less appealing because he would be just another regular heavyweight and not none of the champions.
He’s being allowed by the World Boxing Council to put his WBC title & the contenders in deep freeze while he goes & picks up some coin fighting Ngannou on October 28th.
The WBC needs to step in and strip Fury if he continues to face non-boxers and milk his belt against bottom-feeder opposition.
Moving forward, there needs to be rules created by the sanctioning bodies that prevent world champions from taking a timeout from their world-titled defenses to have exhibition fights or contests against non-top 15 contenders.
Spencer Oliver: “Frank says, ‘We’ve had no offers. We can’t make these big fights. Tyson wants to go in these big fights. While they’re not being made, we’re going to take these other fights,'” said Spencer to talkSport Boxing.
“You’ve got this crossover fight with Ngannou. It’s a huge fight and massive for the entertainment world, and it is going to earn him a lot of money. So, I totally understand where Tyson is coming from, but we do need to get the best against the best.”
Simon Jordan: “If you have to have this fight because you’re short a few bob, and he needs to have this fight, Tyson, then we’ll empathize with that. We’ll put our 19.95 down to help you and your Bagatti or whatever you need.
“Here’s the tradeoff. You’ve got to fight someone meaningful now, or why is the WBC stepping in and saying, ‘That’s quite enough of this now rather than making these ridiculous mock belts, the WBC.
“How much more fawning can Mauricio Sulaiman get? Can he get his tongue any further up Tyson Fury’s backside? Now you’re making a WBC belt for this mockery of a fight.
“It’s so sycophantic that it makes me ill. Should we not be saying to Tyson Fury that should you not start fighting in your predominant sport, you’re not doing the sport a service.”
Oliver: “He’s in danger of damaging his legacy. Once he gets this fight out of the way, we need to see Fury in with Oleksandr Usyk. We need that fight to happen.”
