THE biggest sporting event this weekend will no doubt be the rematch between arguably the two best heavyweights in the world American Deontay Wilder and Briton Tyson Fury.In their first meeting in December 2018, Wilder and Fury put on a memorable show at Staples Center, with Fury surviving a brutal right hand in the 12th round to earn a split-decision draw.In 73 fights combined, the pair have 61 knockouts between them and neither fighter has lost, with the only draw on either of their records coming against each other in their first match-up.Wilder, 34, will hope to break Muhammad Alis record of 10 consecutive heavyweight title defenses when he faces the 31-year-old, 6-foot-9-inches and charismatic Fury at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada.The fight between Fury and Wilder has parallels to Super Fight II between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in January 1974.Ali lost the first match between the pair in 1971 on points and was knocked down in the last round not long after returning to the ring following a three-and-a-half-year absence.Despite losing the first fight, Ali came back to win the second and third fights in New York and Manila respectively.Lewis backs WilderLennox Lewis is giving WBC heavyweight champion Wilder a slight edge against Tyson Fury in the early Sunday morning fight.Another classic heavyweight rivalry the Wilder-Fury clash also shares parallels with is the one between Evander Holyfield and Lewis, who fought each other twice in 1999. The first fight ended in a draw but many believed Lewis won.Eight months after their draw in New York, Lewis deservedly beat Holyfield on point in Vegas to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the worldthe last man to hold that title to this day.Former unified heavyweight world champion Lewis was impressed with the way Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) knocked out his last two opponents Luis Ortiz and Dominic Breazeale with his dangerous right hands.In contrast to Wilders destructive recent performances, Fury struggled in beating his last opponent Otto Wallin, and looked sloppy in the fight, Lewis noted. Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) got the win, but he looked unremarkable and was cut badly over his right eye which required 46 stitches.The momentum is with Wilder because he won his last two fights, and he disposed of his opponents quite easily, but that may be a setback because he wasnt able to practice his jab or practice his boxing, Lennox Lewis added.Tyson Fury was able to practice his jab and practice his boxing in his first fight with Tom Schwarz. In his second fight against Wallin, he wasnt boxing, and he looked very ordinary.For me, I think Tyson Fury is going to come out, and start a lot faster than he did in the first fight. I think hes going to try and push Wilder back on his back foot, Lewis added.The boxing Hall of Famer also rated Wilder as the best heavyweight on the planet with Fury the second best while IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO world champion Anthony Joshua as the third.Sports biggest event in many years.Read Also:Joshua tips Fury against WilderThe fight is expected to be the one of the sports biggest events in many years, according to promoters.Top Rank Boxing chief executive Bob Arum believes the fight will generate more than $200m when including pay-per-view purchases in both the US and United Kingdom, ticket sales for the Las Vegas-based bout, merchandise, sponsorship, and other revenue sources.The fight is being co-produced by ESPN and Fox Sports, in an unprecedented pairing of the two US sports media giants for a Pay-Per-View (PPV) event.Its a huge, huge, huge pot of money, Arum said, regarding the events projected revenue.The fight still wont come close to the most lucrative fight in history, with the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout in 2015 reportedly generating as much as $600m. But the strong interest in the Fury-Wilder matchup still represents a resurgence for boxing, which has undergone many years of decline, particularly in the US.A trilogy in the makingLennox Lewis, who was the last undisputed champion in the heavyweight division, wants the winner of Wilder-Fury to face Joshua at some point in the near future to unify the entire heavyweight division.This is a fight that has to happen, said Lewis. Hes the man that has a lot of belts which these guys want so theres going to be a match-up and we just have to wait and see when.Anthony Joshua is the man that former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker wants to see in the ring against the victor of this weekends rematch while former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton hopes Fury will beat Wilder to set up an all-British heavyweight unification clash with WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titleholder.There is a clause in the fights contract which includes a trilogy fight between the heavyweight pair, therefore delaying the prospect of an undisputed clash with Joshua.
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