Boxing Scribes Take to Twitter to Celebrate the Fury-Wilder Fight

“Tonight’s fight was the best thing to happen for boxing in years,” tweeted legendary Philadelphia promoter and matchmaker J. Russell Peltz commenting on Saturday’s barnburner between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. Many prominent boxing writers echoed that opinion. The word “epic” is over-used, but Fury-Wilder III certainly warranted that citation.

Here are some fast impressions of the fight from boxing-savvy journalists whose opinions we culled from the Twitterverse. Some were written before the bout’s conclusion. There were a few quibbles and we saved those for last.

MICHAEL BENSON – Absolutely astonishing fight for the ages in which Wilder shows incredible heart, but Fury ultimately proves that he’s the greatest heavyweight in the world today. WHAT A FIGHT.

MATT CHRISTIE – Fury’s ability to recover from knockout blows just as astonishing as Wilder’s knack for throwing them. Wilder’s courage and durability mind-boggling, too. What a thrilling rivalry.

MIKE COPPINGER – What we just saw from Deontay Wilder is one of the gutsiest displays in a boxing ring in history, bar none.

TOM GRAY – Fury’s the better man, but I have never seen a heavyweight get so much out of a single drop of fuel as Deontay Wilder my entire life. Soldier-like bravery from him.

DAN RAFAEL – Incredible Fight! I am humbled by these warriors!!!!!!!!!!

Leave it to the acerbic WALLACE MATTHEWS, a fixture on the New York sporting scene for decades, to find a crease in the silver lining. We can say both Fury and Wilder showed great heart and will to win but in terms of skill they are both ordinary at best.

 From this reporter’s standpoint, one of the best things about attending a fight live is that we get to tune out some of the talking heads on the telly. However, we also miss some things that should be included in a good post-fight report. Did Robert Helenius TKO Adam Kownacki or was Kownacki disqualified by referee Celestino Ruiz? We weren’t the only one that left the arena uncertain as to the official outcome.

STEVE KIM’S enjoyment of the fight was tempered by the TV commentary: This was a really entertaining fight, but geez this broadcast crew is really trying over-hard to sell what we just saw. Undoubtedly others felt the same way.

For Sports Illustrated scribe CHRIS MANNIX, the exhilarating fight begged a question: Thing is – boxing has the talent pool to do this every week. Why it doesn’t is mystifying.

 What was your take? We welcome your input.

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