IIn 1971, when the world heavyweight championship could still be accurately described as one of the greatest prizes in sport, Norman Mailer wrote about Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier with a drunken passion. He said, “The closer the heavyweight champion gets to the championship, the more naturally he becomes crazier, secretly crazier, because the heavyweight champion of the world is either the toughest man in the world or he’s not, but it’s possible that he is. ‘s. It’s like being God’s big toe”.
Mailer, who unmodestly regarded himself as the most vivid writer and the strongest man in American literature, added with absurd grandeur: “When the heavyweights become champions, they begin to have the likes of Hemingway or Dostoev.” Sky, Tolstoy or Faulkner, the inner life of Joyce or Melville, or Conrad or Lawrence or Proust.”
Today, humble boxing hacks must contend with issues like doping, gangsterism, sports shuffling, and explaining to confused or uninterested readers that Tyson Fury is the WBC champion and Oleksandr Usyk has Mediocre material for the IBF, WBA and WBO belts. But the fight planned for this Saturday between two undefeated boxers will produce the first undisputed world heavyweight champion of the 21st century.
In Mailer’s words, the last person to become King of the Hill was Lennox Lewis, who defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999 to unify the recognized heavyweight titles. As a result, there is real excitement at the prospect of Fury vs. Usyk.
But since protracted and tedious negotiations between their rival promoters set a December 23 fight date, their results have been disappointment and insult. The fight was postponed for the first time after Fury was knocked out and nearly lost to Francis Ngannou in October.
Ahead of Saudi Arabia’s rescheduled Usyk showdown, we don’t get flashy comparisons to Dostoyevsky or Proust, and even moderate dissidents continue to be imprisoned, tortured and executed , we had to make do with Johnny Nelson suggesting that Fury might be in trouble. Late last month, former lightweight boxing specialist Nelson said: “I’ve heard rumors about what’s going on. [Fury’s] camp. I heard he got turned over in the gym…I thought he could beat Usyk, but Tyson Fury, who punched Ngannou in his last fight, got knocked out. I wonder if he took his eye off the ball or did time catch up with him? “
Boxing on social media was both hysterical and toxic, and it didn’t take long for the wild gossip to become hyperactive. On February 2, just 15 days before the fight, Fury suffered a boxing injury that required “a lot of stitches,” Usyk’s abrasive manager Egis Klimas and a small group of trolls claimed. The wound was self-inflicted. Caused. His critics went even further to stress that Fury would never risk fighting a much smaller, lighter man who could match and possibly surpass him in unconventional techniques and moves.
Klimas’s argument is not complicated: “Tyson Fury is a fucking coward who will do anything not to face Usyk. He asked [someone] Hit him on the forehead with a frying pan. “
Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk was more polite, if still vitriolic, in his reply to Fury’s post: “Wishing you a speedy recovery. God gave you a sign. Consider retirement.” ,brother.”
The only change from the usual pattern is that Fury doesn’t utter most of the insults this time around. Since playing again in Riyadh on May 18, he has been relatively restrained and limited his outbursts to mild ones. “I keep hearing people say I should retire or I’m going to retire,” Fury said last Wednesday. “I’m not retiring.”
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Fury is notorious for threatening to retire, but he now insists he has at least five fights planned – with the first two being a unification fight and a mandatory rematch with Usyk. Long-suffering boxing fans would be forgiven for telling Fury to put his socks in and make sure he’s available for the May fight.
However, if Fury and Usyk do step into the ring, they would create a fascinating clash of personalities and styles. They are two of the best heavyweights in the world, and they are able to bring out Mailer’s gravitas whether it’s Fury discussing his fragile mental health or Usyk describing the resilience and courage of his fellow Ukrainians during the Russian invasion and complex inner life recalling his lengthy fantasies from more than 50 years ago.
Last week, when Usyk was asked about Fury as a man, I was even reminded of Mailer’s off-the-cuff remark about the heavyweight boxer being “secretly crazy” before the title fight. Usyk reacted to the latest postponement with an unsurprising smile and shrug, saying: “I think Tyson Fury is a little crazy.” He paused, then added with his trademark humor: “I Same. Tyson Fury a little bit. I’m more.”
Usyk turned to the camera and sent a message directly to Fury: “Tyson, hi my brother. Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave you alone.”
In that moment, Usyk once again showed that boxing needs this fight to happen, and it was both ironic and intense. The world has changed so much that they can’t match the stature of Ali or Frazier, but if they end up meeting in the ring, the heavyweight world will finally have another championship fight of true proportions. We can then move on from the previous circus and focus on the searing trials that await Fury and Usyk.
