If the buzz is correct, ESPN only has itself to blame for Tyson Fury fighting another softball no-hope Euro-import this Saturday in Sweden?s Otto Wallin.
According to promoter Eddie Hearn, Fury?s big-money deal with the mainstream sports network, which is reportedly worth $100 million, has hobbled the matchmaking efforts of Fury co-promoter Bob Arum.
?They ain?t got no money left to pay because they gave it all to Fury,? Hearn recently told Fight Hub TV.
In the same interview, Hearn goes on to talk about Arum?s attempts to sign veteran contender Alexander Povetkin for the opponent slot against Fury.
?Povetkin accepted the fight for a certain amount of money, and they didn?t want to pay it,? Hearn said. ?He did [want the Fury fight], but he didn?t accept their offer? They could have gotten anybody they wanted if they paid the right amount of money.?
Then, being the rival promoter that he is, Hearn couldn?t resist rubbing salt in an archrival?s open wound.
?You?ve got to respect Fury for getting that deal with Top Rank?Bob Arum might not sleep at night, because he?s provided terrible fights that no one wants to watch.?
Hearn?s catty gibe about a money-wary ESPN and an overstuffed Fury sure sounds like it could be reasonably accurate. Actually, it would explain a lot about some of the odd and often contradictory moves made by those supposedly looking to make Fury a major star in the United States.
Last month, when it was first announced that Fury would be facing the unknown, under-accomplished Otto Wallin, this writer wondered aloud, in a piece entitled ?Tyson Fury: Robbing from The Rich, Giving To Himself,? why ESPN would be traveling the path they were traveling with someone brought to the company as a superstar-in-the-making:
?But this whole ESPN-Fury deal is rather confusing when you think about it. Sometimes, it really doesn?t look like ESPN cares all that much about getting a return on their investment. Why build up to a lucrative cross-promotion, cross-network pay-per-view with Wilder by sticking their guy on their streaming app where the fewest number of people can see him? Why greenlight the piss-poor opponent selection? Maybe there?s a method to their madness or, maybe, they just don?t know what the hell they?re doing.?
Taking Hearn?s assertions into consideration, maybe ?The Worldwide Leader? DOES care about getting a return on their investment and maybe they do have somewhat of an idea about what they?re doing. It could be that they?re just cutting their losses when it comes to an investment they?re seriously starting to question.
Going from burial on the ESPN app for two straight bouts, directly to a pay-per-view fight with Deontay Wilder seems more like the work of someone trying to cash out as quick as possible on an ill-advised investment than someone looking to make a run at building a star over the long run.
It?s reasonable to believe that, at some point, the objective shifted from ?let?s make this big-mouth Irish giant a star in the States? to ?let?s use the guy to draw loyal boxing fans to the app and then cash out with a couple of PPV fights marketed to those same fans.?
The above may be a stretch, but it?s hard to see any real logic in the way ESPN, as a whole, has handled their boxing program after initially dumping tons of money into becoming major players in the game. Nothing they?ve done with Fury and their other main stage stars like Terence Crawford and Vasiliy Lomachenko says ?I?m serious? about this boxing stuff.
Can it all be about funneling boxing fans, who have been conditioned to pay for everything and everything and everything in boxing, into a sports app where they can pay some more?
Or maybe there?s some other genius reason, beyond this lowly scribe?s understanding, behind paying big money for assets that you then proceed to NOT push big.
At any rate, Fury got his money and that will keep the Irish stew flowing indefinitely in the Fury household. Good for him. If it?s true, however, that the Tyson Fury show will be mostly a one-man show and entirely pay-for-play, out of necessity, it?s hard to imagine anything positive coming from this for fight fans.
