FRANK WARREN was the man in the middle when Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury almost came to blows at Wednesday’s press conference. There has been some suggestion from observers that the whole thing was staged in an effort to boost ticket sales and pay-per-view buys.
Warren tells Boxing News that nothing could be further from the truth and indicated the media should share some of the blame for situations like this occurring.
BN: What do you say to people who thought the press conference scuffle was staged?
FW: They’re stupid. You mean to say we want two guys clashing heads and getting cut? Listen, nobody got a gold watch for throwing over a table, we don’t stuff like that, we don’t need it. This is a good fight on its own.
This is classic Tyson Fury. He did the same thing three years ago with Klitschko and absolutely got under his skin and he’s cool and composed and he knows what buttons to press. He did the same thing here with Wilder.
BN: With Klitschko there was a lot more going on. The surface of the ring, the gloves all unsettled Klitschko. But yesterday, he seemed to unsettle Wilder without even trying.
FW: He’s so cool, calm and collected and that’s where he is at. This is a tough fight, this guy is dangerous, he’s a puncher and he can jab a bit. Deontay Wilder didn’t get to where he is by being a bad fighter. He’s unorthodox but so is Tyson, and he’s a decent puncher too. He’s got a great boxing brain.
The only thing for me is if we knew this was the Tyson Fury of three years ago, I think he would be a big odds on favourite. So what is he going to be like after that two-and-a-half year gap? That’s the only question.
He’s got the better of everyone in sparring, Ben [Davison] has done a great job and he’s got the weight off. I just feel that Tyson is in the right place and with him, it’s all about the mental side. He’s right on the money.
BN: You’re still taking a real punt with this fight.
FW: We are and we aren’t. He’s so up for this fight and he just said, ‘Get it, I want this fight.’ He admitted he could do with another fight but he wanted to go for it. And that’s him. Everything he does has been about adversity. Nothing has been given to him, he’s had to do it all the hard way.
BN: With regards to what happened yesterday, it has been reported that the California State commission could withhold the purses if there’s any pushing and shoving at the weigh-in. Have you been told that?
FW: I haven’t. We don’t want pushing and shoving and to be fair no one did anything. It was me who pushed them apart. It is what it is. What annoys me is people say we set this up, that by putting them so close together we encourage it. We don’t, it’s the press, it’s your lot, who say ‘we want the head-to-head photos.’ TV the same. They don’t want one fighter there and the other one over there. You get what you ask for.
