ONE fight will decide who’s really the boss. The other will truly test the mettle of a Filipino aspiring to become a world boxing champion.
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury have an unfinished business to resolve when they clash on Feb. 23, 2020 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both are unbeaten after they figured in a controversial draw in December 2018, making today’s rematch a must-watch.
Before Wilder and Fury came along, the greatest heavyweights had been Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, both departed.
Of course, Ali and Frazier had other noted rivals in George Foreman and Larry Holmes, both still around but had since retired. Foreman is 71, Holmes 70. Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield came much later.
Oh, was I lucky to have interviewed both Ali and Frazier before and after their classic Thrilla in Manila in October 1975 that became, admittedly, the Fight of The Century.
That was a bout scheduled for 15 rounds, with Ali prevailing after Frazier, with his eyes virtually closed and his face so thoroughly rearranged, didn’t answer the bell for the 14th round.
The brutality of that battle—Ali himself had admitted that Frazier beat him by mere seconds in announcing his own surrender—triggered the reduction from 15 to 12 rounds in succeeding world title fights.
In today’s heavyweight battle, a boxer in Fury will face a brawler in Wilder, whose right hand happens to be the strongest in the business right now; already, it had felled 41 foes for Wilder’s devastating 42-0-1, win-loss-draw card.
But Fury, a bit of an Ali copycat, also holds an impressive 29-0-1 record, with 20 KOs.
Anyway, in the undercard will feature Jeo Santisima against Emanuel Navarrete for the world super bantamweight crown.
While Navarrete’s 30-1-0 (26 KOs) mark looks awesome, I give Santisima a strong chance of dethroning the Mexican. Not because Santisima is our very own but his record of knocking out 16 of his previous 19 victims (2 losses) definitely makes him a world-class material. The kid can punch, believe me.
My Sky PPV is all set, 9 a.m., at Channel 61.