Why No Nose-To-Nose Faceoff?
Official weigh-in advertising gimmick banned for boxers, officials safety
The Nevada State Athletic Commission turned to drastic measures to ensure the safety of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, as well as everyone else in attendance, at yesterday’s weigh-in for today’s highly anticipated rematch.
The commission banned the contentious heavyweight rivals from participating in a traditional noseto-nose faceoff, instead having the fighters stand on opposite ends of the stage after each stepped on the scale far heavier than in their initial clash.
Wilder weighed 231 pounds, the heaviest of his career. He was just under 213 pounds in the first fight. Fury hit 273 pounds, nearly 17 pounds heavier, saying he had been carrying that weight for the past 10 months to get used to the extra bulk.
“273 pounds of British beef,” he said.
The unprecedented move of prohibiting a stare-down in close quarters comes on the heels of Wilder, the World Boxing Council titleholder set to defend his belt, and former lineal champion Fury shoving each other moments after standing nose-to-nose at a prefight news conference on Wednesday. “The reason the decision was made, on behalf of the commission, is because the press conference spoke for itself,” NSAC executive director Bob Bennett said.
“The actions of the two fighters pushing each other, which was not staged, is not indicative of the image of our sport as a major league sport, thus having a faceoff is not in the best interest in the health and safety of the fighters, the public and the event.”
OTHER INCIDENTS
Other incidents at recent weighins include Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez pushing each other before their rematch September 15, 2018, in Las Vegas and Terence “Bud” Crawford taking a swing that just missed Jose Benavidez Jr. one month later in Omaha, Nebraska.
At the Fury-Wilder news conference, Wilder pushed Fury, who regained his balance after falling back several steps. Fury retaliated, and security had to intervene to separate the combatants who fought to a split draw in their first meeting December 1, 2018, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
That initial fight included Wilder twice knocking down Fury, but he was unable to finish the deal. In the second knockdown in the 12th round, Fury appeared out for good but, in stunning fashion, he sat up and rose to his feet to complete the bout, setting up immediate calls for a rematch.
In another unprecedented move, ESPN and Fox are joining forces to broadcast the fight, an indication of the elevated interest, not to mention potential revenue at the gate and via pay-per-view, the rematch is generating.
“If this fight depends on a faceoff to sell it, we have not done our job,” said Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank, which promotes Fury.
“This commission realises, because of ESPN and Fox, that boxing is back as a major sport, and we’re not going to mess it up by having these guys push each other or fight each other at a weigh-in.
“It doesn’t happen in the NFL or Major League Baseball or the NBA, where you have the athletes pushing and shoving before their contest. Boxing is now a major sport, and we will conduct ourselves like one.”
Today’s fight is at 3pm (Fiji time) and will be shown live on FBC TV, Fiji TV and Sky Pacific (Fight Sports).