Fury-Joshua heavyweight unification bout in Saudi sweet music to boxing lovers

Small wonder boxing is sometimes referred to as the sweet science. Little wonder, some of the best sports writing has been in boxing.

“Its most immediate appeal is that of the spectacle, in itself wordless, lacking a language that requires others to define it, celebrate it, complete it,” wrote novelist Joyce Carl Oates in her book ‘On Boxing’.

“Like all extreme but perishable human actions, boxing excites not only the writer’s imagination, but also his instinct to bear witness.

And boxers have frequently displayed themselves, inside the ring and out, as characters in the literary sense of the word. Extravagant fictions without a structure to contain them,” Oates says.

Already the word “unification” has captured my imagination, the allure of the best two fighters in the division clashing for the right to be called the “undisputed world heavyweight champion” is simply intoxicating.

How many heavyweight unification bouts have brought the world to a standstill and got admirers of the brutal art fretting over the outcome, not unlike a punter who has staked his/her life savings?

Fury is the owner of the WBC crown, after defeating the hard punching Deontay "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on February 22, 2020 in a refight, while Joshua holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts after reclaiming them from Andy Ruiz in a rematch staged in Saudi Arabia in December 7, 2019. 

Finalising the deal for the unification fight, has been in the works for weeks and when boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said in a television interview the Joshua-Fury bout will take place either on August 7 or August 14 he set the stage for what promises to be another interesting chapter in the history of professional boxing.

Sports writers have already started stroking the narratives.

The fight will see all four major boxing belts contested in a heavyweight bout for the first time in history.

Britain's Lennox "The Lion" Lewis is the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He held the WBC, WBA and IBF belts from 1999 to 2000 in addition to the vacant WBO title after defeating Evander Holyfield in a unification bout.

Hern said they were “very comfortable” with the Saudi partners helping in putting up the Fury-Joshua fight, read big money.

In fact, reports indicate that $150 million (about Sh16.1 billion) has been put forward for the big fight, and that is before considering the pay-per-view revenue and ticket sales.

Some observers reckon that Joshua and Fury will likely pocket a minimum of, wait for this, £100m (Sh15.1bn) each.

Fury aka the Gypsy King of England has already thrown the first salvo at AJ.

BBC Sports quoted him thus:

"I will cut Anthony Joshua down like a hot knife through cheese. That's how easy it's going to be.
"When he gets cracked right in the jaw, it's like a boiled egg with a split down the middle, it can't be repaired. He will go.

"I'll even tell you what punch it is going to be - it'll be a check left hook to the temple, his legs will go and he will fall on his face. He may get back up and I'll knock him out with a straight right."

AJ will surely deliver his riposte. And I bet you, it will not be the polite greeting you give to the night watchman

I have read far more explicit verbal volleys.

“I am the best ever. I am the most brutal, and vicious, the most ruthless champion there has ever been. My style is impetuous, my defence is impregnable, and I am just ferocious. I want his heart. I want to eat his children,” "Iron" Mike Tyson, goaded Lewis before facing him in 2002 in one of the most anticipated heavyweight title fights.

“The Lion” went on to knock out the self-confessed “baddest man on the planet” in the eighth round to retain his three belts.

What of abrasive Briton David Haye? Then the WBA title holder in 2002, he said of Ukranian Wladimir Klitschko, the IBF, IBO and WBO champion ahead of their unification fight: “He’s a fraud and I’m so eager to decapitate him. I’m messing with the inside of his head the way I’ll mess with him inside the ring. He knows in his heart he can’t beat me.”

Responded Klitschko: “I intend to punish him for his disrespect and nasty language he used against me. I will do so by beating him, holding him up through to the last minute of the 12th and last round before I knock him out.”

The Ukranian giant defeated the trashy Briton by unanimous decision. That bout was aptly billed "The Talk Ends Now".

There have been far more famous promos.

"Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 that saw Mohammed Ali, regarded as the greatest boxer to have ever lived, regain his heavyweight title after knocking out the fearfully powerful "Big" George Foreman in Kinshasa, stands out.

I wonder what they will call the Joshua-Fury fight. “Showdown in Saudi”? “Skirmish in the Sand”?
We await in thrilled anticipation.

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