By: Sean Crose
There was no memorable ring entrance, no Patsy Cline, no dressing like a king, nothing elaborate. This was the sort of low key entrance expected in the fight game… But not for Tyson Fury who return to the ring for the second time in a year to face Maurisz Wach Friday in Thailand. Strangely enough there wasn’t even a live broadcast for those of us living in the States. Again it was all very un-Tyson Fury. Yet the man ended up doing what he does best, moving hitting hard, frustrating and ultimately outclassing his opponent, a man who should have never been in the ring with him to begin with. Still Wach was given the chance of a lifetime by facing Fury, who wanted to brush the dust off before facing Anthony Joshua later this year in a possible super fight.
People want to see Fury fight Joshua and with good reason. These are two towering Englishmen who helped to dominate the post Klitschko era of heavyweight boxing. They should have fought years ago no doubt but the fact that they’re about to face each other now means that there’s still a chance to see who will get the better of who in the ring. That’s important in the sport of boxing. There’s nothing worse than waiting for a fight that never comes. People are still talking about the fight Jack Dempsey could have had with Harry Wills back in the 1920s. Again it’s real annoying when major fights don’t happen.
As for now things look like they’re going smoothly for a Fury – Joshua fight. Of course Joshua has to win his fight tomorrow night against Kristian Prenga in order for a throw down with Tyson Fury to go down smoothly. Joshua – like Fury on Friday – is heavily favored walking into tomorrow night’s fight. One never knows in boxing however. The slightest glitch can prevent a major event from happening. Needless to say fans and analyst especially those in Britain want this weekend to go glitch free.
As for how both fighters look this weekend… Well Joshua’s yet to fight. As for Fury, he absolutely dominated Wach- although Wach was able to catch him. The truth was Fury was just a whole lot better than his over his head opponent this weekend which led to Wach eventually quitting on his stool. Again though it’s hard to gauge from the available footage from this fight now Fury looked. He certainly appeared heavy, yet his jab was impressive. Fans and analysis will have to make of it what they will.
“Of course I wanted to get the rounds in,” Fury said afterwards via ESPN. “I want to be active.” Should the Joshua fight come to fruition, Fury will want to be in the best condition possible. It makes sense that he took a tune up. After all he’s only fought once in the past year. Now that he’s fought twice and maybe fight a third time before the year winds down, no one will be able to say he hasn’t been putting in time in the ring.
Like Fury, Joshua wants to be set for a mega fight down the road. That’s why he’ll be facing Kristian Prenga Saturday in Saudi Arabia. A fight between Fury and Joshua may not be as big a deal as it once was, but it will still be an enormous deal indeed if the fighters can actually get through the politics of it all. Perhaps that’s why Fury’s Friday fight was a low key affair. Sometimes you just have to stay active while things run their course.
