Tyson Fury is one of the most exciting and famous fighters on the planet right now. Still the lineal heavyweight champion of the world – even if he doesn’t hold any actual belts – Fury is as charismatic as they come. Furthermore, he’s one of the best in his division alongside Deontay Wilder.
This is a massive weekend for Fury’s division. Andy Ruiz Jr. will defend his titles for the first time against the man he stunned to win them. When the Mexican-American knocked Anthony Joshua out it was one of the biggest shocks since Buster Douglas KOed Mike Tyson.
Fury will have a major part to play in the next chapter of the heavyweight division when he fights Wilder in his own rematch. The first fight ended in a controversial draw. But if reports are to be believed, Fury wants to make his MMA debut at some point in the near future.
Interesting
UFC President Dana White confirmed that Fury has spoken about competing in MMA. If he did it would draw massive interest. We’ve seen Conor McGregor go the other way into boxing. But it’s very rare a boxer leaves their rich pastures for the world of cage fighting.
“It’s interesting. He and I talked the other day. He really is interested in fighting, so I respect that. We’ll see what happens.”
“Let’s see what happens with his boxing career. He’s got this rematch coming up with Wilder, which is obviously huge and a fun fight for the heavyweight division. You’ve got Ruiz and Joshua fighting this weekend. So, we’ll see how that goes and we’ll see what happens.”
Rematch
However, if you think Fury isn’t focused on his rematch with Wilder, you would be mistaken. The first fight was an intensely controversial draw. In short, Fury should have won on points. The only way you could say Wilder won is if you think the referee dragged out the count after his second knockdown. Fury has more fights in his system now and will be in even better shape for this one.
“Don’t go sleep on me, boy, because you can’t hit what you can’t see,” said an out of breath Fury on his Instagram. “You couldn’t finish me last time.”
Mega Money
Promoter Bob Arum also pointed out a big a deal this fight will be massive financially. This is the main reason why boxers don’t cross over to MMA. It’s just not worth the cash. UFC fighters earn in the hundreds of thousands at the highest level. Boxer command literal millions.
“With ESPN and FOX backing the promotion, and with Comcast really, and the cable systems really enthusiastic, I’m looking at doing in excess of two million pay-per-view buys,” Arum said to the Everlast TALKBOX podcast.
If Fury ever does fight in MMA, you can bet that he’ll be paid a record purse. With the eyes he would bring to the sport, you could argue that he would be worth it. First of all, he has some business to handle. Let’s see the heavyweight division get unified first.
