: Boxing fans will have to endure a long wait until the next big fights happen, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has delivered a hammer blow to all major sports around the world. The boxers themselves are reeling from the damage that the virus has caused to what should have been a monumental year for the sport, particularly in its most spectacular heavyweight division (200lbs and over).
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Boasting a long list of explosive fighters led by Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, Andy Ruiz Jr, Alexander Povetkin, Luiz Ortiz and Joseph Parker, the heavyweight division has never look stronger. These are guys who know how to deal with adversity once they enter the ring. But how are they coping outside the square jungle, a place that is home to many fighters, and now have to deal with a different life of relative quiet in quarantine.
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Perhaps the fighter who has lost out the most to COVID-19 is the resurgent British champion Tyson Fury, who at the age of 31, appears to be at the peak of his boxing powers. Manchester’s Fury, otherwise known as ‘The Gypsy King’, is unbeaten in 31 fights, with one draw and 21 KOs.
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On his most recent fight in February, his second against American Deontay Wilder, Fury gave his arch rival an abject lesson on power punching with a vicious seventh-round stoppage that stunned the crowed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas.
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Since that defeat Wilder has called out to activate the trilogy clause in his contract. The third act in the Fury vs Wilder saga was slotted for July 25, but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Boxing is one of sport’s oldest traditions together with football, basketball and athletics and is known to cope with extreme circumstances, like the virus has forced on it. It takes its punches well and looks for openings to retaliate.
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So even while boxing respectfully observes the quarantine measures that are in place all over the planet it does not stop the powers that be from planning and thinking ahead, once life gets back to normal ground. Fury is not the only champion whose dreams and ambitions have been thwarted, if momentarily, by the ongoing crisis, with British heavyweight champion Joshua’s future agenda very much disrupted.
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Following his victory over Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr in his rematch in Saudi Arabia last December, the people’s champion was scheduled to face mandatory challenger Russian Kubrat Pulev on June 20, but that fight is also not happening thanks to the pandemic. The IBF’s No. 1 ranked fighter from Bulgaria was hoping that this was his chance to shine against one of the biggest names in the sport. But he will have to wait until later this year if he hopes to make headlines as Europe’s bright new star.
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Whichever way you look at it, and explore every possible scenario, heavyweight boxing’s jigsaw puzzle will only fall into place sometime in October. So for now, keep your fingers crossed.
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