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The UFC doesn’t take many weeks off these days. But one thing they’ve made a habit of in recent years is a willingness to let the holidays pass them by. No big New Years Eve cards, no Thanksgiving shows, no Christmas carnage.
In short, this holiday season, the other major players in the combat sports world have a shot at taking over the PPV market. Which should have made for a perfect showcase for Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder… if only they hadn’t tried to make boxing work purely for their own self interest.
I’m not going to stand here and say that MMA clearly occupies some kind of moral high ground these days when it comes to matchmaking. Hell, we’re still waiting for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler (which increasingly looks unlikely to even make UFC 300), so there’s hardly room for mixed martial arts fans to talk about how Dana White & Co. make the fights fans want to see.
But for those still stuck in the narrative, then this past Saturday marked exactly the kind of dumb greed that has too often marred boxing’s landscape…
Deontay Wilder vs. Joshua Parker was a stereotypically cynical boxing script
Fans were treated to two of the heavyweight division’s biggest names this December 23rd in Riyadh, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, fighting on the same day, on the same card.
Anyone would have to assume they’d be facing one another. The obvious fight to make for two top heavyweight talents looking to take over right at the end of 2023. They’d be dead wrong.
For assuredly asinine reasons, Joshua decided to take on Otto Wallin in the main event, while Wilder fought Joseph Parker in the co-main. Even the commentary team was convinced that the intention was for both men to pick up a victory before facing one another some time in 2024. A great plan if this had been pro wrestling and the outcomes had been fixed.
Sugar Ray Leonard once famously said “You don’t play boxing.” It was meant to be an admonishment to fans who underestimate the dangers of the fight game. But it should just as easily be a message for boxers themselves, to remind them that for all the gamification they may attempt, ultimately the ring doesn’t lie.
Judging in the squared circle may be famously corrupt, but the fight shows a person’s quality and Wilder absolutely had none of it against Parker in Saudi Arabia.
The ‘Bronze Bomber’ came out, draped in his crown, hoping to rebuild his reputation as the most notable American heavyweight boxer of the last 15 years. Looking the part of a bad, bad man.
A stain on Deontay Wilder’s legacy
Instead, he spent 10ish rounds on the back foot, hoping to one-shot his ultra durable opponent, who simply refused to be cowed by the 38-year-old’s impressive size and power. A miserable unanimous decision loss for Deontay Wilder that may very well spell the end to his time as a top PPV contender.
Our own Mookie Alexander put it best, noting that with the loss Wilder’s legacy seems sealed—both as an incredible, heavy-handed puncher and as “one of the all-time emptiest resumes for a long-reigning heavyweight boxing champion we’ve ever seen.”
Having won the WBC title back in 2015, Wilder defended his belt against the likes of Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka, Chris Arreola, Gerald Washington, Bermane Stiverne and a 40-year-old Luis Ortiz, before finally facing Tyson Fury in 2018. Outside of Fury it’s a ‘who’s that?’ lineup if ever there was one.
He drew against Fury in their first meeting, winning two more bouts (including a rematch against Luis Ortiz) before losing back-to-back rematches against the ‘Gypsy King’ in 2020-21. A victory over Robert Helenius in 2022 set Wilder up for what will now go down in history as an unfathomably pointless booking more than a year later.
It shouldn’t even need saying, but Anthony Joshua was RIGHT THERE. These men were competing at the same time, on the same card. With the talk being that a victory for both would see them face off against one another. A clear ‘just make the goddamn fight’ moment if ever there was one. But greed and pride ruled the day and now one of the biggest potential boxing bouts of the past decade has gone up in smoke. Nothing more than a mirage in the desert, fittingly.
Francis Ngannou wins again
If there’s any positive side to this entirely unnecessary fumble it has to be in the eyes of former UFC champion Francis Ngannou. Having made a huge splash in the heavyweight boxing market this past October with a heavily disputed loss to Tyson Fury, ever single mistake among the boxing elite can only be a win for the ‘Predator’ and his negotiating leverage.
Anthony Joshua had hoped to have a top drawing opponent in Deontay Wilder all set for his next bout. Wilder had hoped to rebuild his championship reputation with a soft booking on his way to a new title fight. Suddenly Joshua finds himself in need of a man that can get fans excited, and Wilder finds himself badly needing a high profile win.
Even if Ngannou fights neither of them ever, he has to look like a far more enticing matchup right now than he did last week. Especially given how readily Joshua had apparently dismissed the Cameroonian-born Frenchman just a couple months ago. And if that’s the case, then he has just that little be more to lean on when he goes to the bargaining table with Tyson Fury in the coming months. If Fury won’t pay up, there are other bookings to turn to.
Ultimately Wilder and Joshua did the unthinkable, they made Dana White look clever when he talks about how broken and greedy boxing can be as a business. A sorry state if ever there was one, on a weekend all set for both men to shine. The only thing we can hope for, as a result, is that the next time a big fight is staring one of them in the face, they decide to take it rather than betting their future away on a result they can’t guarantee.
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