Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have been slapped with a ban by the Nevada State Athletic Commission ahead of their highly-anticipated boxing rematch.
The heavyweight rivals will meet again this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for a re-run of their December 2018 showdown that ended in a questionable split draw.
Last Wednesday, Fury and Wilder had to be separated after they got physical in their final face-off. This is why the NSAC officials have decided to ban the traditional face-off on Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins.
“The reason the decision was made, on behalf of the commission, is because the press conference [Wednesday] spoke for itself,” NSAC executive director Bob Bennett cited, (per ESPN).
Best Interest
Bennett insisted the scenes from the chaotic press conference last Wednesday were not good for the image of the sport.
With plenty of boxing fans expected to be in attendance at the weigh-ins, the executive director said the NSAC doesn’t want to put their safety at risk.
“The actions of the two fighters pushing each other, which was not staged, is not indicative of the image of our sport as a major league sport, thus having a faceoff is not in the best interest in the health and safety of the fighters, the public and the event.”
“And, quite frankly, that image, where you have two professional athletes pushing each other where somebody could get hurt, is not keeping with the image of a major league sport and we’re a major league sport.”
“I’m not going to put the public or the fighters or the event in harm’s way because everybody is looking forward to a spectacular event.”
“This decision is in the best interest of the fighters, the fans and the event.”
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Not Again
Both camps have welcomed the NSAC’s decision, with Top Rank chairman Bob Arum assuring the heated face-off will not happen again.
“If this fight depends on a faceoff to sell it, we have not done our job,” Arum said.
“They will take pictures, just no faceoff. This commission realizes because of ESPN and Fox that boxing is back as a major sport and we’re not going to f— it up by having these guys push each other or fight each other at a weigh-in.
“It doesn’t happen in the NFL, or Major League Baseball or the NBA where you have the athletes pushing and shoving before their contest.”
“Boxing is now a major sport and we will conduct ourselves like one.”
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(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury)