Think of the top destinations you might pick to host one of the most globally anticipated boxing bouts of the modern era. Is Parramatta on your list?
Well, maybe it should be. Word has it that Bankwest Stadium has been ‘tentatively booked’ to host the third edition of Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury on Boxing Day this year. Australian boxing promoter Dean Lonergan has helped get talks up and running, after legendary US promoter Bob Arum recently suggested that Australia would be a possible destination for the trilogy fight.
.@Tyson_Fury vs @BronzeBomber Wilder trilogy clash eyed for Christmas Day https://t.co/GV29VYQ4se pic.twitter.com/LrUcekvFom
— ????? ?????? ???? (@WorldBoxingNews) June 7, 2020
The very real possibility of Australia seating crowds at sporting events in the near future has triggered the potential move. At the centre of it is Australian Rugby League Chair Peter V’landys, who is currently pushing to have NRL crowds back by July 1. V’landys’ approach to getting sport back up and running has been labelled as ‘hyper-aggressive’ and brazen by many, but his results speak for themselves. This would be his second COVID-19 Houdini act, since beating codes across the world to get Rugby League back on the park as early as May 28.
The last clash took place in February, when Fury was crowned WBC Heavyweight champion after a seventh-round TKO. The fight was hot property for boxing fans, and notched up astonishing viewership numbers.
Hosting the fight would do wonders for Australian sport. Events in this country just don’t get this kind of attention. Any sort of live sport is pure gold right now, so to get two of the best fighters in the world going at it on Australian soil will be something to behold.
We can’t wait.
