First-round destruction of Dominic Breazeale was bookended by grim gutter talk and a sketchy future fight scheduleDeontay Wilder is a man of towering physical presence and contradictions. He is a man of God who expressed no regrets for welcoming the chance to “get a body” on his CV by killing Dominic Breazeale in the ring, yet apologised and wished the poor man and his family all the best after icing him inside a round in Brooklyn on Saturday night.To some this is just the gutter talk of the business. But it is tasteless and dangerous. And it most certainly has nothing to do with God. Related: Deontay Wilder defends title with first-round destruction of Dominic Breazeale Continue reading...
Heavyweight stars cash in with little risk but fight fans are missing out on the spectacle they wantRomeo and Juliet had an easier time getting together than Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have experienced lately. The courting of the voluble Gypsy King as the perfect ticket-selling foil for the sweet-talking triple-belt world heavyweight champion continues behind the scenes, while each prepares for marking-time bouts against fighters with clean but thin records.Yet again boxing fans will miss out on the spectacle they want, as Fury prepares to deliver the obscure young German, Tom Schwarz, his first defeat in 25 bouts when they meet in Las Vegas on 15 June. It will be the Mancunian’s debut for ESPN, after signing a staggering...
The Mancunian’s display against Deontay Wilder has complicated the immediate future of the heavyweight divisionWhen Tyson Fury got up from the canvas to finish like a wounded bull in the 12th round of his achingly unfair draw with Deontay Wilder in a faraway ring, he not only moved alongside his shocked opponent and Anthony Joshua as an unbeaten claimant to heavyweight supremacy. He single-handedly made the struggle with gloves a very human experience again. That makes him genuine box-office.Fury is no Muhammad Ali, but he revives memories of that era when charisma had a believable link to its classical roots: “a divinely conferred power or talent”, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. Pointing to the skies, Fury said later...
On his road back to a world title fight against Deontay Wilder, the British heavyweight has become an unlikely but powerful advocate on mental health issuesIn 1990 the poet Robert Bly wrote a runaway American bestseller called Iron John: A Book About Men. Iron John was about the weird, mystical power of the “deep male”. It became a key text in something called the Mythopoetic Men’s Movement, a shared urge for men to retreat into the woods, bare their woad-smeared chests and generally nurture their inner scowling, bearded masculinity.Naturally this went down well with 1990s American men, who were delighted to discover they were in fact reservoirs of vibrant male “Zeus power” (High five! Brewskis!). But Blyism wasn’t about ruling...
Former champion eschews Eddie Hearn’s slow route back to top in favour of quick shot at a Vegas jackpotIn less than three months Tyson Fury will attempt the most audacious grab at glory by a British heavyweight since Frank Bruno challenged Mike Tyson nearly three decades ago. While the odds are that Deontay Wilder will do to Fury in Las Vegas on 17 November what Tyson did to Bruno in the desert city on 25 February 1989, the unbeaten Mancunian magician has time and again frustrated the bookmakers, not to mention all of his 27 opponents.Fury already has a victory of sorts in his quest. After two comeback wins against opponents as ambitious as cats in a dog fight, he...