THOUGH hardly an objective observer, Frank Warren, promoter of Tyson Fury, is nonetheless an experienced one.
He has been around the block more than once, seen all there is to see in boxing, and believes, on February 22 in Las Vegas, his man, Tyson Fury, will be facing the most dangerous heavyweight of the last 30 years in Deontay Wilder.
He also believes, however, that Fury will dethrone the American in fine style to become the WBC heavyweight champion.
“Deontay does what he does. He’s dangerous, and he can lose 11 rounds of the fight and knock you out in the last round,” Warren said. “That’s what he is. He’s a phenomenal puncher, and he’s the most dangerous heavyweight in 30 odd years.
“What you’re not saying about Tyson’s last fight against [Otto] Wallin is he got badly cut. I always say one punch can change a fight, and that punch changed the fight. Most people felt that fight could have been stopped.
“So he was fighting to ensure that it wasn’t stopped. He had to change his game plan, which shows you how adaptable he is, to ensure the referee or the doctor didn’t change the outcome of the fight.
“Under those circumstances, he did extremely well. He’s a guy that can fight orthodox, southpaw, back foot, front foot. And he has tremendous variety, and that’s the difference.
“Deontay is what he is. He’s a tremendous puncher. I think he [Fury] needs to do exactly what he did last time. He’ll be fitter, he’ll be better, and he’ll be more able. I believe he’ll stop him. I’m predicting he’ll stop him. And I think he’ll be too much for him in every department.”
Despite Warren’s claim, a stoppage win for Fury would certainly seem the least likely of all potential scenarios on February 22. Yet, because this is the heavyweight division, no prediction can ever be considered a bad prediction, nor, in the world of Tyson Fury, can anything be deemed remotely predictable.
Surprise, surprise: Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s next fight will take place on May 2, otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend.
With the date confirmed, all that’s left to sort is the location and opponent.
Two Brits, Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith, have been chasing a fight against Canelo fight for some time now and both are very much in the running to face him on May 2, with Saunders, the WBO champion at super-middleweight, a narrow favourite.
This suspicion was all but confirmed when Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s trainer, recently discussed the prospect of his man fighting Saunders in an interview with FightHub. “Super-middleweight, (because) Saunders can’t make 160 anymore,” Reynoso said when asked to name the weight at which Canelo would potentially fight Saunders. “We can fight at 160 of 168, but with Saunders, it would be at 168, because he’s the WBO champion. So, we will see what happens.”
Asked if it would be a tough fight for his man, Reynoso added: “Yeah, it is, but those are the fights that we like and want; complicated ones so that we can win them.”
Complicated fights on Canelo’s terms, then. Complicated fights like his November one against Sergey Kovalev – a fight against a once formidable champion who had recently shown signs of regression Canelo used to add another world title in another weight class to his legacy. A complicated fight, yes, what with the jump from middleweight to light-heavyweight, but a calculated and clever one all the same.
Saunders would fall into a similar category. He is, after all, undefeated, undoubtedly talented, and has the awkward style and movement to at least pose Canelo a problem or two. However, most believe his best weight is middleweight, not super-middleweight, and, moreover, Saunders’ recent form hardly suggests he is the man to stop Canelo’s march towards global domination.