Here's a video of the weigh-in for the fight;
[video=youtube;wKn2bQEALhU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKn2bQEALhU[/video]
A couple points;
- Steve looks very ripped and in comparison Tyson does not looked ripped at all. But you know what? That doesn't matter. Being ripped like Steve really doesn't mean anything and doesn't give him any advantage. Vitali Klitschko, Kelly Pavlik, Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather, Nonito Donaire, are some of the best boxers of recent times and none of them were particularly ripped or muscular like Steve is. Actually, the ideal physique for boxing is a physique like Vitali Klitschko, which is lean and fit.
- From watching the weigh-in, the press conferences, and observing the network buildup to this fight,
I strongly get the feeling that Main Events and NBC network is backing Cunningham to win and then try and push him as some sort of "American star". Cunningham is very much the hometown and home-country fighter here and to an extent that's understandable. Tyson Fury and his team should know, and probably do know, that
anytime you fight on the road you're taking a risk. I also want to point out that Cunningham's team, Main Events, seem to have a friendly relationship with the NYSAC, the athletic commission in charge of putting on this event. In fairness, Steve has also had several fights in Europe throughout his career.
- Tyson Fury's trainer, Peter Fury, and members of his team have been denied entry into the US and will not be in his corner for the fight. I'm not sure why this has happened, it could be anything from not having proper documentation to a criminal record of some sort. I know that Tyson was training in Ottawa, Canada for this fight and apparently, at the Canadian-US border, his team members weren't permitted to cross it.
- All that said, I'm a huge Tyson Fury supporter, he's one of my favourite fighters and I'll be rooting for him this afternoon! It's gonna be tough, because Steve is solid boxer, is a lot more experienced than Tyson, and has a home-country advantage, but I think Tyson can pull it out if he's trained properly and fights with a good gameplan. I don't think the judges will do Tyson any favours, being the visiting fighter, so he needs to win rounds cleanly and possibly drop or stop Steve. Steve has been dropped in past fights so Tyson needs to try and connect and possibly drop Steve. Steve is good, but he does have 5 losses, and as such, he is certainly beatable. It's gonna be tough but I think Tyson can pull it out!
I was really impressed with Tyson in his last fight VS Kevin Johnson and I feel that experience will serve him very well in this fight. Its a perfect fight to have before this one. Tyson needs to be active, throw a lot of punches, hopefully connect to drop or stop Steve. Steve has 5 losses for a reason and he is absolutely beatable.
Let's go Tyson Fury!!!
The Fury-Cunningham fight will be in the afternoon at 2 PM ET and 5 PM PT on Saturday.
Here's a free and legal Main Events stream for the fight:
http://ustream.com/mainevents
Great, thank you for that!