It’s a shame that the revival of the heavyweight division in boxing has been somewhat put on hold by the deals that the key players have signed (Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder) with various TV networks and streaming services. In splashing the cash to the tune of tends of millions, it’s not really in their interests to go straight for the epic encounters the fans all want to see. Nevertheless, we’ll of course still be tuning into the exploits of these three in the hope that eventually two of them will cross paths in a no doubt memorable match-up.
With all of this attention placed on the trio, the three fighters are looking to impress, and Deontay got the first chance to do that in his WBC world heavyweight title defense against Dominic Breazeale on May 18th in New York. After controversial comments earlier this week about wanting a ‘body on his result’ Wilder made fast work of the encounter, and added yet another knock out to his record, now standing at 40 knock outs from 41 wins (and one draw – against Tyson Fury – aka the Undertaker!).
Despite the brevity of the bout, Breazeale did land a couple of good punches while defending himself from the barrage, and they did appear to slow Wilder in his tracks for a moment. Wilder’s knock out moments later though was a stark demonstration of his devastating power. It’s an exciting time in the heavyweight division, with Anthony Joshua taking on Andy Ruiz Jr on 1st June and Tyson Fury vs Tom Schwarz on 15th June. Both fights are stateside, so fans in the UK are in for a late night!