Nearly two years – and a good deal of partying - since Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko, the semi-retired heavyweight still has a hold over boxing matched by few since the crazy days of the feared fighter after whom he was named.
While Mike Tyson created mayhem inside and outside the ring, Fury does so these days with enigmatic messages through social media. Indeed he is often more interesting when talking about his sport than doing it, as fine a technician as he became on his way to the top that November night in Düsseldorf.
It is not disrespectful to talk about Fury in the past tense, because he is doing so much to put himself there. Having earlier in the year declared he was walking away from boxing only to change his mind, he spread further confusion by announcing a few days ago he would not apply for the return of his British licence. While this was thought to be a diversionary tactic as he waited for a final ruling over his failed drug test, Fury immediately confounded that view when he said he would happily fight Wladimir’s retired brother, Vitali – who has called out Wladimir’s other British conqueror, Anthony Joshua, for revenge.
Joshua, meanwhile, said he probably would not get around to fighting the WBC champion Deontay Wilder until 2020, and the American reckoned this showed AJ was scared of him, not an opinion shared either by the WBA and IBF title-holder or most sensible observers.
All of this is ludicrous, childish and of a piece with the rolling pantomime that is professional boxing, of course. Firstly, there is no way Joshua will interrupt his progress towards an eventual unification showdown with Wilder to accommodate the 46-year-old mayor of Kyiv, who had the last of his 47 fights five years ago and retired in 2013 with aching muscles and bones after a long and illustrious career.
And, if Fury seriously wanted to fight the elder Klitschko (or anyone else for that matter) outside the jurisdiction or influence of the British Boxing Board of Control, he would end all chances of having the one bout that would define his career: against Joshua – who has business to take care of in Cardiff next month against Kubrat Pulev.
As it stands, nobody but Fury knows what he wants. And even that’s not a given.
Two Mr Nice Guys
It was a very good rather than a great fight, but it was great for boxing. Anthony Crolla slugged out a close and physical points win over Ricky Burns in Manchester on Saturday night, with not a lot on the line except pride and mutual respect, a decent purse and the promise of bigger nights to come.
Over several decades it has become the norm for boxers to hurl insults before punches, sadly. That was never going to happen in this lightweight 12-rounder between two of the nicest guys in the business. They even chided the referee for missing a low blow.
However, the idea that Crolla is now ready for another shot at a world title – having endured 12 rounds of hell against the WBA and WBC diamond champion Jorge Linares in March, his second loss on the spin to the estimable Venezuelan – seems unrealistic.
Much easier to make inside the Matchroom stable would be an attractive domestic match against another likeable boxer, Luke Campbell, who pushed Linares all the way in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago. Campbell was at ringside in Manchester, and Crolla said after the fight: “I’d be happy to go with that. I’m just interested in being involved in big fights.”
Nobody likes him
Chris Eubank Jr, like his father, is not bothered if people like him as long as they pay to watch. And there will be plenty of fans willing to do that when he fights the winner of Saturday’s World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight quarter-final between George Groves and Jamie Cox.
Eubank was controlled and ruthless stopping the unbeaten Turk Avni Yildirim with a peach of a left hook at the end of a torrent of head shots in the third round of their quarter-final in Stuttgart on Saturday.
Groves will start favourite to beat Cox in what should be an engrossing bout at Wembley Arena, and his movement and ring savvy would present Eubank with way more challenges than the robotic but determined Yildirim.
The semi-final of what has steadily gathered strength as an impressive series is scheduled for January. People who were uncertain about the tournament are beginning to see that the format is not only working but has also brought together the best in the 12-stone and light-heavyweight divisions.
Having turned down a chance to fight the middleweight king Gennady Golovkin last year, Eubank is back in the big picture at super-middle, even if he looks under-sized in the division. He will be hard to ignore from this point onwards.
