SV Progression 317: December's main fight attraction; Tyson Fury Vs Deontay Wilder

On Deontay Wilder Vs Tyson Fury: a heavenly heavyweight matchup which could go the distance. Tyson is walking the talk, so don't condemn him! Even if you don't like Fury (there are subjective reasons not to) he is putting the work in, while some of his so called fans are trashing the comments on social media with inane claptrap. "Crack smoker, washed up, fights bums" - so what, you little trolling gremlins? These gremlins troll boxers and celeb personalities all over the internet, so I wouldn't worry. Many whom have never fought at least amateur in a ring before. Get your facts straight before you rant on to a professional boxer about how bad he is, unless you're joking. You never know, you might just get lucky and get a punch on the nose yourself.

Tyson Fury has two options, he knows it and so do the watchful eyes. He can do to Deontay what he did to Klitschko: hit and not be hit for 12 rounds. Or, he can try and wear Wilder down, and force a stoppage in around rd 6. I've analysed Deontay's resume, he starts open, goes into his shell around rounds four to seven, wakes up again if his opponent is still there (Luis Ortiz could have TKO'd him in round 7 of their pairing), and then uses training smarts to try and close the fight. The problem with trying his usual game plan against someone like Tyson Fury is 1) Tyson for once is the bigger man, two inches taller than Wilder, and 2) Throwing windmills, as Anthony Joshua put it only gets you so far. Once you're put in with fast fluid and stronger opposition than Wilder (he's only 16 stone) then he's going to have problems. The only issues for Tyson Fury are ring rust and motivation, but Deontay could be argued to have had those throughout his entire career. Of course, Wilder's right hand is dynamite, but he only uses his jab as a paw, and to set up a right hook, also noteworthy.

Deontay's been defeated 5 times in the amateurs, and knocked out once in the pros. The KO percentage on his undefeated record is just that: boxers, if they feel undefeated (ie not back to the drawing board) still win their fight, because they won an opponent to fight. This is part of the bookmaker's journalism fix. Deontay's been knocking out people who either never got going, so he capitalised on it (see: Audley Harrison) or low level opposition, regardless of WBC rank (see Dominic Breazeale, not yet fought, whom Joshua jolted into submission). I make a prediction that Tyson Fury wins this fight on points, taking Wilder the embarrassing distance for the first time proper in his career. Bermane Stiverne did it to contend the WBC title he lost, and going the full 12 is also the only official way that "the fight" inside the ring is controlled enough for Tyson Fury to win for a full twelve rounds. Only boxers or martial artists who have fought will understand that bit - if a fighter is cut, i.e the action is cut because they get stopped or KO'd, but both boxers want to continue, then the match is halted, the film reels are sown up, and like after editing, the remainder video for the big screen is a stitch of the best bits.

Personally, I'd also like Fury to win more, just because despite all his controversial remarks over the years in the media, from anti-Semitism, racism, evangelism, bigotry, you name it, he's less of a corrupt dickhead. Anyone (Deontay Wilder) who can throw barbs like "I hope your son will be at the fight [to Dominic Breazeale] so he can look me in the eye as the man about to cripple his Daddy" on social media and in real life, with only a "forgive me for all I may have caused hurt to" on his Twitter after he got called out, presents him as a class A moron who needs his head examined at all costs.

This could be fight of the year, or it could be most disappointing brawl of the century, who knows. Or Wilder will just deck him.

Your choice, Tyson. Go get wilder, or get a career screwdriver.

281: Boxing Retrospective By Muttley - Audley "A-Force" Harrison

Audley 'A-Force' Harrison, the 6 foot 5 black athlete turned boxer from London, UK, often became dismissed as a novelty celeb act by armchair journalists, but as a prizefighter champion after his olympic gold and holding the european title against, lets face it, always outclassed opponents, it was inevitable. Growing a nascent worrying fascination for picking his fights before frank warren picked them for him, he is known inside the ring to real boxing pugilists for a ramrod jab and staggering power in his southpaw-stance left hand. Notable wins for audley:

1. Obv. Olympic gold. And like all olympic athletes, nicola adams right now on bnation etc, they rely on boxing rather than volume and/or punching power. Science. Its hard to pick notable clips from "a - force" harrison in the olympics, because the best fights are boxer vs. Fighter, as shown in harrison's crippling (but not catastrophic) defeats against david price (ko1), david haye (stoppage r3, for the wba world title) and the most brutal; deontay wilder's wild head shots in the first round for the commonwealth title which probably ended his career at the right time. These losses stopped audley in his tracks specifically; more on that later.

2. Danny Williams KO r3. The man who knocked out Iron Mike Tyson in 4 rounds creating his descending 2000s spiral into early retirement, and lennoxs best comparison uk wise at least out of the limelight (is meant to shred leather in the sparring drills). Cuts ensued against audley and audley it should be noted took williams out of there six rounds earlier than wladimir klitschko in 2002.

3. Michael Sprott Ko 12. A very memorable fight this one, the underrated domestic titan Sprott causing audley early adversity mentally but gave the old sorcerer enough time to suck up the punches and press on with outscoring- and finally- knocking out, sprott.

These excellent wins are the reason i rated audley up there with the 21st century greats like the klitschkos, haye, fury, and deontay, the problem is with audley technically is he has a suspect chin - hit right, he quickly collapses- and like an articulated lorry takes ages despite usual early covetous sharpness to get going.

I never liked the "fraudley" and mocking of him back then and i still dont now, yes he can talk, but he has not lost his marbles, hes just content and hes opinionated. Id rather have a gentle giant like him on my bbc tv in the formative years of training as a middleweight muaythai fighter than some crap spouting rubbish role model. As much as i love david haye he does come out with some bollocks before his fights, in fact i have him down as one of the founders of noughties trash talk...sadly, because hes always great to watch, one of my faves of all time.

I will never forget the aspects of scale and ratio, volume and size, power and precision and paradoxical entertainment - over sheer blitzkrieg novelty - that an audley harrison fight brought to me as a teenager.

i have no idea what im doing out of bed