POWER PLAY
The rivalries at the heavyweight negotiating table taking precedence over actual ghts
MAKE as much money as possible and get out with your faculties intact should be the mantra of every professional boxer. So it’s hard to criticise Anthony Joshua (set for a career-best purse on DAZN and Sky Sports against the undeserving Jarrell Miller in June), Tyson Fury (thanks to an £80m five-fight deal with ESPN and BT Sport) and Deontay Wilder (Showtime’s heavyweight player) for the business sense they’re all displaying. But each would do well to remember why that money now exists.
They are currently being paid exceptionally well because they have entertained the fans, because they have – between them – been involved in some exceptionally exciting fights that have left the fans desperate for more. More importantly, the fans have invested in them because they fully expect those exciting fights to continue, and more specifically, against each other.
Yet they all seem further apart than ever before. The promoters of each is quick to tell everyone they now have the strongest position at the negotiating table, that it is their man who the others will have to go through if they want to be the No.1. The promoters of each will tell you that their fighter is worth more than rival promoters are offering them, while also telling you that the fights you want to see will happen if – the biggest ‘if’ in recent boxing history – their rivals are willing to switch broadcasters and make some concessions on their expectations.
It’s easy to criticise the promoters and the boxers for that. But strengthening their positions is understandable in a sport where fairness and honour often count for zilch. For WBA, IBF and WBO boss Joshua, he rose to the top amid a period of restructuring following Fury’s failed drug test-induced hiatus, he sold out stadiums and looked terrific against the best available opposition. Fury’s eventual return gathered unexpected pace against WBC champion Wilder, before the scorecards denied him a monumental victory. Wilder, for his part, proved he’s the biggest puncher in the division by salvaging a result with a last round knockdown. Against anyone other than Fury, it would have seen him record one of the most dramatic comebacks of them all.
That exciting draw initially seemed like a good result for the division – the fans would be treated to a return and the winner would then take on Joshua in one of the biggest fights in history. But that exciting draw has only made things exceptionally complicated.
Team Fury are now speaking of not getting a fair deal with Wilder and are determined to stage a sequel on their terms after the controversy in Los Angeles. The same Team Fury who reported last year’s negotiations with Wilder were easy in a blatant swipe at Team Joshua for failing to agree a fight with the American themselves. And whether you buy into the ‘lineal’ championship Team Fury speak of is a matter of opinion; certainly the complications involved with his layoff saw him reliniquish or be stripped of his other titles.
In the short term, we must hope that Wilder – arguably the likeliest of the three to cede ground given that he doesn’t appear to be tied into a long-term deal with a broadcaster – can somehow strike a deal with Fury. If he’s to fight Fury again, he will have to fight on ESPN at the expense of his relationship with Showtime. On the surface, it’s not a huge sacrifice. But then of course Wilder’s team, which includes Al Haymon, Lou Dibella and Shelley Finkel, will naturally ask themselves why they should be the ones to bend over when their man is the longest reigning titlist in the division. But somehow, we need the three to become two, we need one to have faith in their ability and just agree to a fight. Only then can this situation become clearer.
We’re not at crisis point yet but time is ticking. The talent remains for this to be a golden era for heavyweight boxing. But if that era fails to emerge because of the current power play, it will go down as one of the most damaging.