On Saturday night we had the quintessential tale of two of the most formidable power punchers in Stevenson and Wilder versus pure boxers in Fury and Gvozdyk, and the boxers came out on top not, but not without controversy.
Fury vs Wilder – Outlandish Robbery
I would like to congratulate Fury on a great comeback. After 3yr layoff, mental health and alcohol/drug abuse, he came back and boxed beautifully and outclassed the current undefeated WBC champion, the 40-0 KO artist Wilder.
I had it 116-110 to Fury. You could argue 114-112 in Fury’s favour, but this was NOT a draw let alone a result in the opposite direction under ANY circumstance. It wasn’t even close. Fury outboxed him in every area and won every round apart from the 2 rounds where Wilder put him down.
He made him miss and Wilder looked clueless, ponderous and frustrated. Fury displayed great footwork, head movement, jab, counter punching and punching straight through to Wilder’s guard (which was high a lot in this fight, surprisingly).
From this fight, I believe Fury is definitely the best heavyweight in the world. He would beat Anthony Joshua comfortably due to the fact he’d be evasive and just far too slippery for the less mobile AJ.
Wilder’s power is unreal and Fury’s chin is equally granite.
Wilder versus AJ: my thoughts remain the same, I think AJ beats him due to the fact he’s just fundamentally sound, however, if Wilder lands AJ is not getting up.
It’s a robbery. Plain and simple. Fury has been robbed of a world title and a fairytale ending to his comeback. He looked like he was back to his vintage best on Saturday night.
Gvozdyk vs Stevenson – Retribution and the New Era
Most boxing fans felt some sort of gratification that Stevenson’s ill-fated championship reign came to its conclusion. Better late than never. Gvozdyk,is the new WBC and Lineal World Light Heavyweight Champion, and deservedly so. A top win with a credible name.
Gvozdyk did what I thought he would do which was to outbox Stevenson and eventually break him down with father time catching up. I knew he’d be susceptible to Adonis’ hammer left hand, this is Gvozdyk’s main weakness—if hit flush he’s vulnerable.
An old adage in boxing is “power is the last thing to go in a fighter” and it is true when it comes to Stevenson. Even at 41 he was very competitive in his last 2 fights and relying on his power.
I am tipping Gvozdyk to come out on top in my favourite and stacked 175 division. He’s highly skilled and just has more to his game overall than the other guys.
Just like the Badou Jack fight, the judges were controversially in the favour of the hometown fighter right up until the stoppage (I had it 96-94 to Gvozdyk comfortably), not to mention he was robbed of a knockdown in round 3. So some vindication in watching Gvozdyk pivot to each side, punching from angles and finishing the fight in emphatic fashion.
