By James Slater: Good news for U.S fight fans who love a good old fashioned heavyweight slugfest: Wealth T.V in America will cover this Saturday’s clash between the unbeaten Brit that is 23 year old Tyson Fury and the 38 year old New Yorker that is Vinny Maddalone. The card, from Somerset, U.K, will go out at 5pm eastern time.
Fury, of whom big things are expected (Fury says his goal is to bring one of the Klitschko brothers over to the U.K next year) will likely enter the ring on Saturday as a whopping favourite, but Maddalone is never one to care about the betting odds. The Queens warrior will do what he always does: fight with all his heart for as long and as hard as he can.
Already written off by many an expert (the experts have already made up their minds: Vinny goes down swinging at the half way stage or sooner) Maddalone is here to upset the apple cart.
Maddalone has a tough task ahead of him, no doubt, but Fury is far from the finished article. Also, once again, Fury has had to enter a fight after having shifted a ton of weight (Tyson has a self-confessed eating disorder) – if the fight reaches the later stages and becomes a battle of attrition, will Fury’s gas tank empty as a result of his having shifted those excess pounds?
The fans that do tune in for this one, in the UK and in the US, will definitely get value for money, of that at least I am certain. What I’m not sure of is what will happen if Maddalone lands a wild left hook or right hand on Fury’s often exposed jaw.
Remember, Fury loves to fight and he often neglects his height and reach advantages as he willingly rumbles on the inside. Could that give the visiting fighter a chance? Also, Vinny has said he plans to Target Fury’s body; if he is at all soft down there, Fury might be made to feel it.
There is no way I can see this fight going the distance, and Maddalone’s suspect skin may well let him down. But for as long as it lasts, the action promises to be compulsive viewing, and those viewers who are squeamish had better look ou