BOB ARUM and Frank Warren might just have saved the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight. A war of words was ratcheting up the tension between the two fighters towards the end of their press conference on Wednesday at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Then with no visible security presence on the stage, the two heavyweights were urged to face off. Furyโs promoters Bob Arum and Frank Warren sprang from their seats in the audience in order to stop it happening.
Speaking to Boxing News immediately afterwards, Frank Warren said, โIt was just crazy. My big observation was no security. So Iโm thinking how are you going to let these guys go [and face off], whoโs going to be in the middle of it? All youโre going to do is push them together like this, you know whatโs going to happen. Youโve been around long enough to see that.โ
Arum was incensed afterwards, blaming Fox, one of the networks broadcasting the fight, for stirring up the risk of a potential altercation between the boxers. โThe understanding was no face off,โ Arum declared. โWe said no face offโฆ There was no face off and we saved the fight.
โMaybe nothing [would have happened if they had faced off]. The chances of something happening and upsetting the fight where everybodyโs worked extraordinarily hard to put it together, the PBC people, ourselves, the fighters. It would have been a tragedy. So why take that risk? Why? To entertain the circus?โ
For most of the press conference Wilder had refused to engage with Fury. Initially he didnโt speak to the Briton directly and turned his attention to his phone when Fury, the holder of the WBC belt, was speaking.
But in the closing minutes of the conference, as Fury goaded him in a final statement, Wilder began to respond.
โWilder says that I only won the second fight because I โcheatedโ but then he goes and changes his whole team, does all this extra training, trains as hard as heโs ever trained with this team and all that. So I ask the question if I only won because I โcheatedโ whatโs the point of changing everything? Can anyone answer that question, I know he canโt. He hasnโt got the brains to. No one can answer that question,โ Fury said. โHe says he wants to do bad things to bad things to me, hurt me and heโs got anger and aggression. Well, for those who hold the hot coal, with the intentions of throwing it at somebody, guess what? Theyโre the ones whoโs going to get burned. I donโt want to hurt Deontay Wilder. I just want to beat him in a fight and he knows what heโs saying is lies and deep down in his soul he knows that he lost and heโs going to lose again.โ
As Wilder began to speak, the insults continued to flow from Fury. โRetirement,” he bellowed. ‘Dosser!โ
โI see nervous energy,โ Wilder insisted. โI didnโt feel nothing. You have no power. Youโre not a knockout artist. I went out on my feet. I had a disloyal trainer and guess what, when someone throws the towel in after the boss tells them not to do that, the employee gets fired.โ
Fury fired back, โYouโre legacyโs already finished. All the excuses, youโve been done, finished. Youโve been beat, youโve humiliated, youโve been busted. End of.โ
They finished exiting the stage in opposite directions, with nothing thrown from either man beyond bad tempered words, much to the relief of the event promoters. Any punches are going to be held until Saturday night.
Bob Arum and Frank Warren intervene to stop face off and ‘save’ Fury vs Wilder III

John Dennen
Oct 07 2021