April 2022 - Week IV

Saturday April 23, 2022

London, UK

Where to Watch - UK BT Sport; Panama Telemetro 13

Undercard - 1PM Main Event - 4PM (Central Time)

Hype for this Card - 9/10. Marquee matchups between top ranked heavyweights are always going to be must watch television. Add to that Tyson Fury is one of the more polarizing fighters in the sport as a notorious trash-talker. Fury is also a natural showman and his microphone skills are on par with anyone in the WWE. On the other side, his challenger Dillian Whyte has felt completely disrespected by his share of the fight purse, leading to a boycott of any promotions. Including his absence at the introductory press conference, which lead to a hilarious staredown between Fury and a poster of Whyte at the end. Seriously, take a look at minute 38 I’m linking here. The rest of the card is pretty dreadful though. Not much there, unless you want to watch Tyson Fury’s little brother Tommy Fury, a UK reality star.

Main Event - Heavyweight Unlimited pounds WBC World Heavyweight Title

Tyson Fury #1 (31-0-1) Favorite

vs.

Dillian Whyte #5 (28-2-0) Underdog

What’s at Stake

The WBC World Heavyweight Belt is on the line. Anytime a belt in the Heavyweight division is up for grabs, its a big deal.

Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury

33 years old from the UK, Tyson Fury is the current WBC World Heavyweight champ and coming off of a win in October 2021 when he KO’d Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder. As an aside, that fight was the moment I got into boxing. He is a fighter that at first glance, seems a bit out of shape and doesn’t look like he can compete athletically at a world class level. Looks are deceiving though, as Fury combines elite footwork, head movement and an almost inhuman chin to outlast and destroy opponents. Just look at the way he rose from the dead twice in round 4 in his 3rd Wilder fight to come back and get the KO in the 11th. Fury’s style invites action in the ring as he does not shy away from contact, so this should be a very entertaining fight on his end. If Fury is able to win here, he has thrown around the idea of retiring. But it’s just as possible that he seeks a Heavyweight Unification fight with the winner of the upcoming Anthony Joshua Oleksander Usyk match this summer.

Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte

34 years old from the UK by way of Jamaica, this is easily the biggest fight of Whyte’s career. Whyte needs to capitalize on this opportunity because he may not have another chance to fight for a World Title. He currently holds the WBC Interim World Title, but it’s a secondary belt that doesn’t hold much prestige. Given this title shot, it’s been interesting to see how Whyte has handled it publicly. He felt he deserved a bigger share of the PPV money, so waited until the final day of negotiations to sign off on the fight. He also declined to participate in any promotion of the fight as noted above. I don’t know of another case of that happening so I guess you can argue people like me talking about it is a kind of promotion in and of itself.

As far as Whyte in the ring, he’s most effective as a counter puncher and when he goes to the body. And Fury’s size makes his body a huge target, which would pay dividends into the later rounds. The Body Snatcher also likes to fight up close which would work to negate Fury’s reach advantage. Finally, Whyte is also a much better technical boxer than Fury’s last opponent, Deontay Wilder. Wilder’s brawling style and reliance on power was exploited by Fury in their last fight.

Pick to Win

Whyte is going to give a solid challenge to Fury in this fight. However, Fury’s skill and motor are just too strong here.

Fury by KO in 9.

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April 2022 - Week V

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March 2022 - Week II