The Heavyweights: Hopefully on the Road to Somewhere 

The Heavyweights: Hopefully on the Road to Somewhere 

I remember when I was a wee boy all excited on Xmas morning, like my mates I was expecting a new shiny bicycle. Sadly the excitement soon turned to disappointment, embarrassment even, yes a bike was duly delivered by the mythical Santa, but while he got the right address, the wrong present was dropped off. To my horror it was a 3-speed bike, I already knew my mates would have 10-speed equivalents. I rode the bike, I felt I was obligated to, but my heart wasn’t in it, much like the heavyweight fights we are currently being served up, we are getting something but not what we really want.

I watch, but with very little anticipation, the winner of each of the upcoming fights we probably already know in advance. Surely what makes sport so great is watching and not knowing the outcome. I wouldn’t pay to watch a film at the cinema knowing what happens, so why are we being dripped fed, a seemingly never-ending amount of starters, to succeed you have to deceive or at least create some kind of allusion.

BT Sports admittedly are giving us decent shows, but the same station that gave us Josh Warrington vs Carl Frampton for free as part of our subscription, are now asking us to pay an additional fee for Tyson Fury vs Tom Schwarz. Fury is best priced 1/33 to win, there are much longer odds up to 1/100 I have seen. Fury has his market value, but whatever words are said to hype it, they can’t hide the obvious. I would go on to say it is the worst PPV fight in UK boxing history and believe me that is saying something, and no I will not be tempted.

Fury claims he is the lineal champion and he is defending that title, he isn’t defending anything of the sort, and nobody can seriously buy into it. Boxing has enough belts and is complicated enough without a fighter who hasn’t one, claiming that he is the rightful heir.

Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte do have decent opponents ahead of them, Joshua you know and probably except that whomever he fights will be on PPV, but Whyte is different. Like Fury, he feels he has a price to work, but at some point, Whyte needs to get one of the other big 3 heavyweights in the ring. Some will blame Whyte himself, others will blame the WBC, the promoters of the other fighters, or the fighters themselves why he hasn’t yet nailed down his opportunity at the so-called biggest prize in sport. But there has to be an endgame to it, are we going to be asked to pay extra for Whyte every single time he fights someone outside of the accepted top 3 in the division, Chisora 3 anyone.

Joshua, Wilder, Fury and Whyte and their respective teams all say encouraging things either on social media or in the interviews they frequently give, but we know that however convincing they may sound, the exact opposite is done.

Wilder fresh from the expected over Dominic Breazeale at the weekend, seems to have his two fights seemingly already lined up. Luis Ortiz will be granted another go at the WBC champion, and then the Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki is likely after that. That would make Wilder unavailable until the middle of 2020 at the earliest, Eddie Hearn says no more excuses, Wilder Joshua must happen next, excuses will be found.

Fury will face a similar foe to Schwarz before the year is out, but then what, more of the same for 2020, or will he fight the WBC ordered matchup with Whyte, I know what’s more likely, I would be astonished if Fury Whyte happened, quite honestly I am as confident as I can be, that it definitely won’t happen.

Joshua if he gets past Andy Ruiz Jr, has the likes of Michael Hunter and maybe Oleksandr Usyk as possible future opponents, unless egos are dropped and a little common sense is applied and the fight with Whyte gets made, but that ship may well have already sailed.

As for Whyte unless he drops the asking price, he may still be frozen out this time next year, the most deserving contender who is either too expensive or too dangerous or both, won’t get his shot. But the problem for Whyte is whatever he does, he might have an extended wait. Joshua seems to have moved on, and Fury and Wilder don’t seem to have him in their plans. Mandatory or not, the wait may well go on for some time yet.

Will things change, not in the short-term, they will get away with it for as long as they can, but there is always hope and where there is a will there is usually a way, how much of a will, time will inevitably tell.