By Norm Frauenheim
It’s been called a heavyweight resurrection and maybe that’s what it was when Tyson Fury climbed to his feet while Jack Reiss was about to complete the count in delivering last rites to an astonishing comeback in the fight of his life and for his life.
It was as compelling a moment as any. It defined the reason why people watch and why boxing always defies the doom so often predicted. Better writers have called it life in a shot glass and that’s what we witnessed last Saturday in Fury’s controversial draw with Deontay Wilder last Saturday at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Within a few seconds, it unfolded with undiluted power. One-hundred-and-eighty proof drama.
But did it really mark a heavyweight revival?
Only if there is an immediate rematch.
Business is often about momentum and the heavyweight division captured a lot of it with a fight that was a hard sell. Tickets, hands full of them, were available from scalpers and at the Staples box office hours before opening bell. Showtime’s pay-per-view telecast was tracking this week to do between 300,000 and 400,000. Decent, but not great.
If you missed it live, you can watch the replay on Showtime Saturday night (9 pm ET). Guess here: A big audience will watch. The replay, itself, will serve as a good platform to market a rematch that has emerged as a lot more attractive that Anthony Joshua against either Wilder or Fury.
That’s what Wilder said in a conference call Tuesday, just days after he and Fury defied expectations. Forget Joshua, Wilder said, who in effect told Joshua to go pound nails, or Dillian Whyte.
“Let him continue to fight second-tier fighters,’’ Wilder said. “Maybe one of them knocks him out.’’
The drama and controversy generated by Wilder-Fury stole the bully pulpit right out from under Joshua, who reportedly had ducked a $50-million offer to fight Wilder.
Joshua had all of the momentum in his corner after his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in an April 2017 bout. That fight, too, was dubbed a heavyweight revival. But the revival and momentum were squandered, in part because there was not motivation for Joshua to risk his UK popularity. He had been drawing huge, soccer-like crowds in the UK. Why jeopardize the box office with a risky fight? But who remembers, or even cares, about his subsequent victories over Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam?
Now, however, Fury returns to the UK riding a huge wave of popularity. There are reports in UK media that Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn want to resume negotiations with Wilder for his next fight. But wouldn’t a Wilder-Joshua fight instead of an immediate Fury-Wilder rematch further enrage fans who already think Fury got robbed on Saturday’s scorecards?
The split draw had a lot of people alleging fix and screaming for an investigation. From ringside, I scored it a draw. From round to round, it was close, hard to judge. I scored the first, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds for Fury. I scored the second and fifth for Wilder. I scored the second and eighth even. In each round, there was not much that separated the two. There was Fury’s jab and Wilder’s erratic power, both of which were exerted in the late seconds in an evident to attempt to steal rounds.
On this card, it was 4-2-2 for Fury after eight. In the ninth, Wilder scored a knockdown. Fury won the 10th and 11th. In the 12th, there was the knockdown and Fury’s come-back-to-life moment. It was astonishing and emotional. On this scorecard, however, it was still a draw.
The dramatic moment, I suspect, influenced many to argue that Fury should have won. A further factor was his personal triumph from drinking, drugging and dark thoughts that included suicide. He reportedly weighed 400 pounds a year ago.
He sang at the post-fight news conference and asked reporters to sing with him. Bye, Bye Miss American Pie, Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry filled the Staples Center press room with voices from reporters who joined the Fury choir. It was unprecedented. It was hard not to be won over. I wish he had won. But my scorecard said something else.
It was a draw. But it was a performance that should ensure Fury and Wilder a rich rematch. Only then can anybody call it a true heavyweight revival.
