Death, taxes... and Tyson Fury delaying, post-poning, or flat out canceling a scheduled fight. Yes, it happened again. C'mon, are you really suprised? The track record speaks for itself.
As boxing fans were eagerly awaiting the February 17 showdown between the WBC heavyweight titlist, and unified champion, Oleksandr Usyk, it was announced on Friday that due to a cut suffered in training camp, the fight would be post-poned.
Yes, the 'Ring of Fire' was doused.
But alas, Turki Alalshikh has made sure that these two will duel for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. His Excellency has rescheduled this bout for May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And he's put in some financial incentives/penalties for both parties show up to the dance.
Now, it's not Usyk that the public is worried about. He has generally been pretty reliable and has shown a willingness to fight anywhere on the planet. It's the mercurial (to steal a word from Bob Arum) that everyone is skeptical of.
And for good reason. Just this saga alone saw Fury delay this fight last year, much to the consternation of Usyk's manager, Egis Klimas, but then after this bout was finally agreed upon for this past December. It was Fury, after struggling mightily with boxing novice Francis Ngnannou in October, who then backed up this date to February 17.
Now, the hope is that this long-awaited showdown finally takes place in May.
For anyone who is skeptical of Fury, I can't blame you. Just look at his history, going back to the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko (which was contracted) that never took place, his two-and-a-half year hiatus as he sat on the heavyweight title, and the numerous other times he has backed up fights due to various reasons, from mental health issues to Covid.
As for the cut, and how it took place, all over social media you see people breaking down the sparring session where Fury got cut as if it was the Zapruder Film, and some are even speculating that he cut himself. Never mind the tens of millions of dollars that are on the line, here. Fury wants that money and not give it all away to the homeless.
The distrust of Fury has gone so far that there are those who are wondering why Fury was still sparring a full two-plus weeks before the fight. OK, this is where I'll draw the line. Most, if not all, world-class boxers will spar up until about 7-8 days before the scheduled night of their bout. Generally, they will taper down the number of rounds, and some will even go with lighter, fast sparring partners at the very end. Not sure how Fury was handling this aspect of his preparation.
But unless there is some sort of ailment that has to be protected (such as a cut), sparring a couple of weeks out from the bout is routine. Back in the olden days, boxers would spar just a few days before they faced live bullets.
Now, if you still believe that there was a razor blade from the grassy knoll that Fury sliced himself with, well, go ahead. I get it.
Long ago, while winning a bunch of fights, Fury lost the publics trust.
RIP
Like many others I was saddened -- and quite frankly, a bit stunned -- on Friday afternoon with the news that Carl Weathers had passed away at the age of 76. Weathers, a noted actor, will always be known to boxing fans for his portrayal of Apollo Creed in the 'Rocky' franchise.
This role was originally meant for Ken Norton, but fate would tab Weathers for this role. Not only did he look the part of a professional prizefighter, but he captured the spirit of Muhammad Ali, his bombast and charisma. Nobody could have done justice to this role the way Weathers did, who was a part of the first four 'Rocky' movies before the character was killed off by Ivan Drago in the fourth chapter.
You could make an argument that Creed, was almost as important to this franchise as Rocky. But make no doubt about it, those movies would not have been nearly as good, or memorable, without the presence of Weathers.
He lived quite a life. A graduate of Long Beach Poly, he then played football at San Diego State, before embarking on a short NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, and then he played a few years in the Canadian Football League. But yeah, you could say that this acting thing worked out pretty well for him.
FINAL FLURRIES
Conor Benn made a successful return to the ring by decisioning Pete Dobson over 12 rounds. He was a bit underwhelming to a point that it seems like Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis are angling to move up to welterweight to face him... Joshua Buatsi beat Dan Azeez in what was a WBA light heavyweight eliminator. That belt is held by Dmitry Bivol....Speaking of Bivol, His Excellency, has announced that the long awaited Bivol-Artur Beterbiev showdown is scheduled for June 1....
