Monday?s kick-off press conference in London for the Wilder-Fury Las Vegas spectacle was predictably cheesy and full of fake bravado?
Monday?s kick-off press conference in London for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury Las Vegas spectacle on December 1 was predictably cheesy and full of fake bravado.
If you were able to watch the scripted ?shoving match? between the two big men and the pretend tussle over being able to ?take? one another?s power without chuckling to yourself or at least rolling your eyes a little, you?re a better man than I.
We all kind of expected this. Wilder has been cultivating an image of trash-talking KO artist hell-bent on killing, destroying, and not caring about that killing and destroying. Fury is a trash-talking misanthrope with delusions of grandeur.
Given the two personalities involved, it was actually amazing to see this press conference as subdued as it was. There will be two more public events like this one and there?s a pretty fair chance that the craziness and absurd WWE-style testosterone pie fighting will be amped up in coming days.
But this bout, for all the laughable theatrics and ridiculous headline fodder it will generate in the days and months leading to fight night, is as ?legit? as anything on the boxing schedule. As a matter of fact, it will be the single most important heavyweight contest of the year, by far?a declaration that should hit three-belt champ Anthony Joshua like a perfectly-placed liver shot.
WBC titlist Wilder may not be as big a star as Joshua, but the heavy-handed American has a r?sum? that is neck and neck with the UK?s ?next big thing.? A win over Fury would actually put Wilder ahead of Joshua in some boxing minds.
Fury, meanwhile, is a former three-belt titlist who ended the long and dominant reign of Wladimir Klitschko. And for those who still keep track of such things, ?The Gypsy King? is the lineal heavyweight champ?the undefeated ?man who beat the man who beat the man? despite having been forced to vacate his belts. After a long layoff where he dealt with mental health problems as well as substance abuse issues, Fury?s full comeback will be official with a win over Wilder.
Between the spasms of bluster and machismo during Monday?s press conference, truths about the gravity of this matchup were spoken, however.
?I am no challenger for no man. I?m the linear heavyweight champion of the world, the best of the best,? Fury said.
And Fury?s right. While he may not competitively be the ?best of the best,? he can certainly make a case for being a ?real? champ who was never actually beaten for his titles.
In Wilder?s moments of sanity, he fully acknowledged the importance of beating Fury in order to get the big money that comes along with a big unification bout with Joshua.
?This is the ultimate move right here,? Wilder said. ?This is another checkmate upon all the other checkmates to try to make that fight happen?We really tried to make that fight. The situation is real, the $50 million we offered him was real. We don?t have time to play games, time is money?We don?t need each other but we need each other. My goal in boxing is to unify.?
Admittedly, it?s going to be hard to pay attention to the ?realness? of the fight with the absurdities of the event sharting outward, gunking up the narrative. Wilder-Fury is a big one, though.
Stylistically, this fight has the potential to either be a thrilling mix of styles and egos or a sloppy snoozer pitting a spoiler with a limited offense (Fury) against a banger with zero nuance to his game (Wilder).
But whether it?s a thriller or a tedious bore, it?s a crucial heavyweight contest that will likely set the table for a unified heavyweight division in 2019.
