Earlier this afternoon, a pair of notable fights took place in the UK, with David Price smashing Audley Harrison in the first round, and James DeGale earning a hard-fought decision over Hadillah Mohoumadi.
The latter fight was televised by broadcast network Channel 5, which has been the recent home to Hennessy Sports fighters, most notably young heavyweight Tyson Fury. Fury was in the crowd, and received word of press rival Price's win over Harrison. His interview...well, it was very Tyson Fury.
Fury called promoter Frank Maloney a "midget," which was fine, and called Price a "stiff idiot," which was fine, and even said he'd fight Price any day of the week, which is acceptable behavior in boxing, even if that fight has already come up and Fury vacated his titles rather than fight Price.
Sure, there's more to it than that, with the TV deals and all this, and it's all very political and what have you, but the bottom line is the fight could have happened and did not, and it was Fury who vacated title belts.
But then Fury called Tony Bellew, another Liverpool fighter, Price's "gay lover," and it all just got a little stupid. Bellew responded on Twitter, saying, "So I hear Fury talking about me? Do yourself a favour and stop vacating titles instead of fighting your mandatory challenger!"
But given that boxing is a generally crass sport, it's not that this was surprising or anything, and the bottom line is that someday, these two are going to fight. Not next fight, probably not even next year, and maybe not for three or four years. But eventually, they will. It will happen one way or another. And unless one of them falls apart by then, it's going to be a big, big fight, with a ton of attention.
I'm sure Fury knows that -- he's been ahead of the curve marketing himself since he stepped into the pro ranks. As for Price, he's a little on the quieter side, but right now may have the greater credibility. If all breaks right, this will keep coming up, the public will keep wanting it, and then it's going to happen, and it's going to be a major event.