On February 22nd 2020 @ the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the Lancashire native Gypsy King Tyson Fury vocalised his agreement with the New Yorker Don Mclean in Bye-Bye American Pie. Was this Tyson’s way of informing the world of an end to American domination of the most coveted Heavyweight Division?
Fight fans, on October 9th – It’s all On – we once again get the privilege to congregate at the behest of another classic fight at the T-Mobile Arena.
What happened on the night of 22/02/2020 exemplifies the Great Jim Lampley’s quote; “there is no other sport where the passion, intensity, courage, commitment and pure guts can surpass this purest form of athletic competition ever conceived.”
Suffice it to say, EXCUSES have never been accepted by boxing purists. Not only does accepting EXCUSES defy the underlying ethos of this noble art, but it goes to suggest that one has neither taken a look at the table of contents of the textbook of boxing, let alone read it.
Problems with legs prior to fight, weight of costume for ring walk, egg weights in glove, thumb not in glove, trainer spiking water, privileges gained from ethnicity and many more have been thrown out there for reasons for losing a boxing match. It is amazing how some self-acclaimed boxing purists have fallen for these tell takes without any questions- hook, line and sinker.
And I dare say that the parallels of boxing and life are exemplified exceedingly in failure; when you are knocked down, the truth is found in your conviction to get back up and fight; one man fought the demons whilst the other revelled in his own excuses.
Truth is that if a man with a detonator could not explode on the man that stayed out of heavyweight boxing for nearly 3 years, indulge in illicit substances and balloon to over 300 pounds, Wilder had no chance of beating the version of The Gypsy King he boxed on the 22nd of Feb.
Give Deontay Wilder some credit, after the second fight, he finally came to terms with the plight of the chemist; he realised the difficulty in finding the titre value of a volatile reagent. In righting the wrongs, change was paramount in Deontay’s quest to avenge his loss. Out goes Mark Breland, in comes Malik Scott.
Training videos have shown the new Deontay Wilder looking super sharp on the pads and throwing body shot combos whilst his new trainer motivates him with classic Shakespearean poetry recitals capable of winning an Oscar for a Broadway Production.
The question is does change always produce the desired outcome? Will Malik’s training methods install the desired changes in Wilder’s fight game to beat the Gypsy King? Well, we all live to see. Truth is that if both men rolled out of bed to have a fight without preparation, Fury’s skill set and his capacity to achieve the seemingly impossible will win him a fight against Wilder. It is only fair to infer that, Malik Scott has more work to do as compared to Sugar Hill Steward in each trainer’s quest for victory.
Fighting Tyson Fury is like finding answers to riddles to solve a puzzle. Which Fury does Wilder prepare for? The slick boxer who calmly picks his punches like a butcher picks cuts of meat or the puncher brawler who smothers his opponent’s offence. With Tyson’s incredible powers of recovery and his ability to reverse the tide of the battle, he has a psychological edge over Wilder. Talk of fight psychology, why on earth will a man scream in front of cameras and go mute when he meets the person he accuses of wrongdoing face-to-face?
A boxing ring is a cold place where the truth always comes out. On October 9th, each man goes out to seek his truth. The quest of each of their truths is the driving force for this appetising heavyweight clash. Truth is that Wilder will revert to type once Fury’s right-hand lands and as promised Fury will run Wilder over like an 18 wheeler. As Tyson’s defence and punches float like wine out of a bottle, Wilder will keep drinking like a shaky alcoholic as fight fans witness an Ultimate sporting drama.
My two Cents
Kwasi Twum Ameyaw
Amanfo) 97
