Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are expected to confirm the date of their heavyweight clash set to take place later this year as boxing suddenly finds itself back in the headlines.
Fury saw off the feeble challenge of Italian Francesco Pianeta on Saturday night to book a date with Wilder. With that fight now added to a schedule featuring Anthony Joshua, George Groves, Carl Frampton and Amir Khan, fans will have to dig deep, says Jeff Powell in the Daily Mail.
There are “at least six” pay-per-view blockbusters in the pipeline, he says. “To see the lot will cost £120 — an average of £20 each. With the possibility that more big fights will be added to the schedule before Christmas, viewers will have to make choices to fit their budgets.
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“That spells war between the TV giants with Sky’s domination being challenged by BT, while ITV snipe from the wings. The biggest ratings battle will be between Wilder vs Fury, and Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin.”
Fury’s bout with Wilder will be “the most audacious grab at glory by a British heavyweight since Frank Bruno challenged Mike Tyson nearly three decades ago”, says Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian.
But Mitchell doesn’t rate Fury’s chances. “If Fury reaches the fifth round, it will be a considerable achievement,” he says. “Fury, whose speed, footwork and geographical awareness in the ring are probably the best in the division, would bamboozle Wilder in a pure boxing match... But subtlety often gives way to brute power among the heavyweights.”
But Fury’s boxing ability could give him a chance and his claim that “you can’t beat what you can’t hit” could have some substance.
World Boxing News says that Fury’s “improved hand and foot speed enabled him to easily out-speed and out-box the plodding Pianeta, who offered precious little resistance as he landed just 37 punches in ten rounds – and never more than six in any round”.