It's On!
Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder stood in the middle of the ring at Windsor Park in Belfast on Saturday night and shook hands on a deal that has stunned the boxing world.
Wilder will defend his WBC heavyweight championship against Tyson Fury in November in either Las Vegas or New York in a fight conjured during the last two weeks from nowhere. It is the fight America needs to end the exile of the heavyweight division.
"They called and I answered," insisted Fury. "I wanted the fight and the other guy didn't. That is the truth." The other guy is, of course, Anthony Joshua.
It now seems it was that simple to make the fight and in boxing that is often the case when the biggest of fights, the ones that appear to have the most obstacles, actually get made.
On Saturday night in the Belfast ring, Fury went the full 10 rounds - rounds he so desperately needed - to widely outpoint Francesco Pianeta. Wilder was ringside, hollering encouragement to the man he calls Big Momma. "I had to get over here, get here and make sure he never lost," said Wilder. "I had a good look at him - he moves well, he does a lot of things I do and he has got good feet." Wilder stood and applauded at the end.
A few minutes later, under the ring's sodden canopy, the pantomime started with first Fury and then Wilder promising to deliver a knockout. "It's on," declared Frank Warren, the promoter, and a veteran in the tricky and often dark art of making seemingly impossible fights happen. This fight was not even an idea a few weeks ago.
"When two fighters are not afraid to fight each other it is easy to make a fight happen," said Warren. "There has to be a desire from the fighters - Wilder and Fury want to fight, it's that simple." Lennox Lewis, the former heavyweight champion, had said exactly the same thing recently.
Just a few weeks ago Wilder was convinced he would be fighting Joshua, convinced the financial offers and concessions made by his team to Joshua would be enough to make it happen. However, negotiations collapsed, it turned ugly, with both sides making a lot of bold and vicious claims. Sadly, the fight vanished with both sides taking up firm positions on the moral high ground as it disintegrated angrily and, it has to be said, surprisingly. It was at the moment of utter collapse that Fury entered the mix, the mess, the nasty impasse and started to agree terms with a refreshing readiness to get business done. Behind the scenes, Warren and his American counterparts sat, talked sense, agreed, disagreed and speedily arrived at a fight. It is a huge risk for both men.
Wilder had fewer and certainly no spectacular fights in America on his horizon, and with the rather blunt Joshua blank, Fury suddenly looked like a dream replacement; they form a wonderful triangle of potential fights and getting one made is terrific for the sport. Joshua will surely rue missing the opportunity to agree the Wilder clash and that is because he genuinely loves hard fights.
Fury had to beat Pianeta and look good doing it; on Saturday night he used every second of the 10 rounds to explore the darkest reaches of his inactivity, used the full fight to find and then adjust his own punching distance and timing. In an ideal world Fury would have the comfort of one or even two more fights before meeting Wilder and that is clearly part of Wilder's grand plan. "Hopefully Wilder and his team believe that now is the right time to get Fury," said Warren. There is a lot of sense in Wilder's thinking and he is probably correct.
However, the chance is there right now and Fury assessed the situation and agreed. Wilder and Joshua only have two fights each year and it is very easy to get frozen out; Fury needs to stay busy, have a goal and securing a Wilder fight is all part of his return to boxing, his fighting rehab.
"It's no good talking about fighting the best, challenging the best and then bottling it when a chance comes," said Fury. "I know Wilder is a fighting man and just wants to fight - we are real fighters unlike the other guy."
In the ring on Saturday night the pair embraced, shook hands and headed off to their 80-day camps. It's on, make no mistake and that is great for boxing.