Wilder-Fury II too explosive for Vegas
Commission bans faceoff after shoving
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 Friday’s weigh-in for their highly anticipated rematch.
The commission banned the contentious heavyweight rivals from participating in a traditional nose-to-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 on the ESPN broadcast of the weigh-in.
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 noseto-nose at a prefight news conference 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 told ESPN, which first reported the news.
“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 at recent weigh-ins include Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez pushing each other before their rematch Sept. 15, 2018, in Las Vegas and
Terence “Bud” Crawford taking a swing that just missed Jose Benavidez Jr. one month later in Omaha, Neb.
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 Dec. 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 realizes, because of ESPN and Fox, that boxing is back as a major sport, and we’re not going to f--- 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.”
Disappointed over the confrontation between Wilder and Fury at the news conference, Arum, at that point, had called off the weigh-in faceoff before the NSAC made the decision official the following day.
“I’m not going to put the public or the fighters or the event in harm’s way because everybody is looking forward to a spectacular event,” Bennett told ESPN. “This decision is in the best interest of the fighters, the fans and the event.”