Tag: Stipe Miocic

Tyson Fury answers Stipe Miocic’s challenge: ‘after I get Wilder out of the way’

Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury said he’d be willing to fight UFC’s Stipe Miocic after Fury’s rematch with Deontay Wilder.

Undefeated former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Tyson Fury has accepted Stipe Miocic’s challenge and says he’d be happy to face the UFC heavyweight champ – inside the boxing ring.

Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) told ESPN on Monday that he had turned his sights from a trilogy bout with Daniel Cormier to a matchup with Fury (29-0-1 boxing), saying he’d be interested to face the 6-foot-9 Brit in the octagon or the boxing ring.

And, in an interview conducted by his management team MTK Global, Fury formally accepted the challenge and said he’d happily face Miocic in a boxing match a little further down the line, once he has dealt with his unfinished business with heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder.

“Stipe says he wants to box me; that would be a good fight for sure,” Fury said. “After I get Wilder out of the way, I’ll fight Stipe in a boxing match if he wants it. It would be a big crossover fight like Mayweather and McGregor.”

Fury has a return to the ring penciled in for February 2020 and hopes that Wilder will agree to face him in a rematch of their epic December 2018 clash that finished in a hotly-disputed split draw in Los Angeles. But, once Fury has faced “The Bronze Bomber” again, he said he’d be interested in a potential matchup with Miocic.

“I’m open to that fight, so he should come and see me,” Fury said. “It would be the same outcome for any of them: They’ll all get smashed.”

Fury’s comments made clear that he’d be looking to face Miocic under boxing rules, rather than the Unified Rules of MMA, but that doesn’t mean Fury has no respect for the sport. Indeed, he spent some time cracking the pads as he worked his elbows, knees and sprawls with Darren Till at the Liverpudlian’s training base at Kaobon Gym last week.

“It was exciting training with Darren Till and we get on like a house on fire,” said Fury, who shares the same management company with Till.

“He put me through a hard training session, and it was really good.”

MMA stars know where to find money … against boxing counterparts

In recent days, the UFC’s Jorge Masvidal and Stipe Miocic have expressed interest in facing Canelo Alvarez and Tyson Fury, respectively.

MMA stars may get the earlier start times, but it’s the top boxers who take home the more gratifying paychecks.

Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest attraction, was reduced to playing second fiddle in the combat sports world when DAZN decided to delay his title fight against Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 2 to accommodate the UFC main event between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz that took place that same evening.

Critics ripped the streaming service for making it appear as though boxing was taking a backseat to the UFC. However, in at least one respect, it’s the other way around.

In the days after his technical decision over Diaz, Masvidal has been busy beating the drums for … an Alvarez fight. And Stipe Miocic, the UFC heavyweight champion, has floated the idea of reneging on a third fight with Daniel Cormier to face heavyweight contender Tyson Fury in a boxing match.

Notice a pattern yet?

It’s always the mixed martial artist clamoring to fight the boxer and seldom vice versa. For good reason. As has been well documented, the top boxers earn far more than their UFC counterparts. And there’s something about the crossover appeal that gets people to take out their wallets, as the 2017 pay-per-view bonanza – all 4.3 million buys – between UFC’s Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather demonstrated.

If you’re Masvidal, why not push for an Alvarez fight? Crazier things have happened. A Canelo fight would represent by far the most lucrative opportunity in his career. Masvidal discussed a potential Canelo fight on the Dan Le Batard show on Tuesday.

“If he was to come to the MMA, it wouldn’t be a challenge,” Masvidal said. “I would throw 10,000 left high kicks and he hasn’t thrown one. It’s kind of the same thing in boxing, where if I’ve thrown a million jabs, he’s thrown 10 million because that’s all his focus is on, boxing.

“That being said, there’s still an element where I could put his ass to sleep. I’m actually bigger even though I may not hit harder, but definitely bigger, and I consider myself 10 times the athlete he is, just because of MMA in general, all the strength, speed that we have to generate. … I feel I could hurt this dude.”

Of course, Masvidal is dreaming … of the money.

 

Tyson Fury answers Stipe Miocic’s challenge, offers boxing match ‘after I get Wilder out of the way’

Undefeated former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury said he’d be prepared to face Stipe Miocic in a boxing match, but the matchup would have to wait.

Undefeated former heavyweight boxing champion of the world [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] has accepted [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]’s challenge and says he’d be happy to face the UFC heavyweight champ – inside the boxing ring.

Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) told ESPN on Monday that he had turned his sights from a trilogy bout with Daniel Cormier to a matchup with Fury (29-0-1 boxing), saying he’d be interested to face the 6-foot-9 Brit in the octagon or the boxing ring.

And, in an interview conducted by his management team MTK Global, Fury formally accepted the challenge and said he’d happily face Miocic in a boxing match a little further down the line, once he has dealt with his unfinished business with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

“Stipe says he wants to box me; that would be a good fight for sure,” Fury said. “After I get Wilder out of the way, I’ll fight Stipe in a boxing match if he wants it. It would be a big crossover fight like Mayweather and McGregor.”

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Fury has a return to the ring penciled in for February 2020 and hopes that Wilder will agree to face him in a rematch of their epic December 2018 clash that finished in a hotly-disputed split draw in Los Angeles. But, once Fury has faced “The Bronze Bomber” again, he said he’d be interested in a potential matchup with Miocic.

“I’m open to that fight, so he should come and see me,” Fury said. “It would be the same outcome for any of them: They’ll all get smashed.”

Fury’s comments made clear that he’d be looking to face Miocic under boxing rules, rather than the Unified Rules of MMA, but that doesn’t mean Fury has no respect for the sport. Indeed, he spent some time cracking the pads as he worked his elbows, knees and sprawls with Darren Till at the Liverpudlian’s training base at Kaobon Gym last week.

“It was exciting training with Darren Till and we get on like a house on fire,” said Fury, who shares the same management company with Till.

“He put me through a hard training session, and it was really good.”

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Stipe Miocic wants to fight boxer Tyson Fury, not interested in Daniel Cormier trilogy

UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic expressed an interest fighting former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Despite their series being tied at one fight apiece, UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] isn’t interested in a trilogy against former champ [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag].

Instead of facing Cormier (22-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) for a third time, Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) wants to taken on a different former champion – one outside of the MMA bubble.

In an interview with ESPN on Monday, Miocic made it clear he wants to fight boxing superstar Tyson Fury upon his return.

“I saw Tyson Fury is coming into the mix now here,” Miocic said. “I like a new challenge… With DC, I didn’t fluke knock him out – I beat him. I decisively beat him. Our first fight, congrats to DC. But he caught me with a punch in the first round.

“There was a lot going on in my mind that night. No excuses, but he beat me. The second fight I won. There’s no taking it away from me. I didn’t get lucky, I just straight outworked him.”

Throughout the interview, Miocic praised’s Fury’s abilities calling him a “good fighter” and a “good dude.” However, Miocic believes he has what it takes to defeated him inside the cage – or the boxing ring.

“He’s a talented fighter, so he’s definitely going to have good striking,” Miocic said. “But anyone can make a (30-second) highlight reel. It’s still good, but I can do that too.”

“… Definitely if he wants to step into the Octagon, I’ll love it. I’ll step in the ring. I’d love to box him. I would love to box him. He’s a great fighter. He’s a good dude and we’d put on a good show.”

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In fact, Miocic said the prospect of fighting Fury inside the ring was more intriguing to him than inside the cage. A new challenge, Miocic said, is what he’s striving for.

“It’s something new – something different,” Miocic said. “In mixed martial arts, there’s a lot more to go with. You’ve got a bunch of martial arts to work with. In boxing, we’d just go toe-to-toe and slug it out.”

Since he defeated Cormier at UFC 241 in August, Miocic underwent eye surgery. Miocic said he procedure was done to repair a retinal tear as a result of eye pokes sustained in the first two matchups against DC. He’s not sure exactly when, but he’s planning on a 2020 return.

“Probably multiple eye pokes from my last two fights,” Miocic said of why his eye was damaged. “Yeah, I mean it didn’t help my cause, but getting punched doesn’t help either.

“I got done with the fight seeing spots in my eye. I (saw things) I’ve never saw before. It just didn’t feel right. We actually went to the retinal doctor. He’s like, ‘Yeah, you have a tear in your retina.’ A little procedure will fix it up, so hopefully it’ll heal up and stay that way.”

Monday’s interview wasn’t the first we heard of Miocic wanting Fury in MMA. After Fury posted a video training elbows, knees, and takedown defense alongside former UFC title challenger Darren Till, Miocic issued a statement on Twitter.

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