The Week UK - 29.02.2020

24 NEWS

THEWEEK 29 February 2020

Sport

“Wereyounotentertained?”Thosewere

TysonFury’swordsonSaturdaynight,after

hisdemolitionofDeontayWilder,saidPaul

HaywardinTheDailyTelegraph.Andwe

wereentertained–ofcoursewewere.But

Fury’striumphwassomuchmorethanjust

entertainment.Itwas“surelythegreatestwin

byaBritishfighteroverseas”.Justoverayear

afterhisfirstfightagainstWilder,which

endedinacontroversialdraw,heputinan

“astonishinglydominantperformance”.He

landed^82 punchestohisopponent’s 34 and

droppedhimtwicebefore,intheseventh

round,oneofWilder’strainersbowedtothe

inevitableandthrewinthetowel.Thevictory

earnedFurytheWBCheavyweightworld

title,endingWilder’sfive-yearreign.To

thinkthatthisisamanwhowasstrugglingwithdepression,

drugaddictionandalcoholismin2016,andlookedunlikely

toeverboxagain.Now,“theresurrectioniscomplete”.

Thefirsttimethesetwofightersmet,inDecember2018,Fury’s

approachwasfundamentallydefensive,saidBryanArmen

GrahaminTheGuardian.Hespentmostoftheevening“boxing

Wilder’searsoffwitherraticfeints,astubbornlyeffectivejaband

deftupper-bodymovement”.Thosetacticsworkedwell–sowell

thatmostobserversthoughtheshouldhavebeenawardeda

victory–andtheobviousthingwouldhavebeentojustreprise

them.Buthavingbeenonthewrongendofthejudges’decision

lasttimeround,Furywasn’twillingtoriskthathappeningagain,

saidRickBroadbentinTheTimes.Thistime,hedecided,he

neededtogoforaknockout.Sohepartedwayswithhistrainer,

BenDavison–amanFuryhadpreviouslycreditedwithsaving

hislife–andstartedworkingwithJavan“SugarHill”Steward

fromthefamousKronkgyminDetroit,whereboxersarealways

encouragedtoaimforaknockout,rather

thanapointsvictory.Healsosoughttogive

himselfasizeadvantagebybulkingupto

273lb(Wilderweighedinat231lb),eatingsix

mealsanddrinkingeightlitresofwateraday.

Fury’sstrategyworkedtoperfection,said

KevinClarkonTheRinger.Makingthe

mostofhistwo-inchheightadvantageand

longerreach,he“swarmed”Wilderwith

punches–takingthefightto“oneofthe

biggestbadassesinthesport”,amanwho

hadknockedouthisopponentin 41 ofhis

previous 43 fights.FurybeatingWilderwas

not,initself,amassiveshock.Furybeating

Wilderbystoppage–“thatwastheshock”.

Ofcourse,withFurytheboxingisonlyever

partofthestory,saidGarethA.DaviesinTheDailyTelegraph.

Inthesixthround,hetrappedWilderagainsttheropesand

appearedtolickthebloodoffhisneck;afterthefight,heled

thecrowdinanimprompturenditionofAmericanPie.Butit

wasstilltheboxingthatgrabbedtheattention,inaperformance

thatconfirmedFuryasaheavyweight“comparabletoanyone

inhistory”.Forhimtohitsuchheightsafterthelowhereached

afewyearsagomakesthis“oneofthegreatcomebacks”.

Assoonastheboutwasover,attentionturnedtowhoFury

willfightnext,saidKevinMitchellinTheGuardian.Wildercan,

intheory,requestarematch.Butthetrulytantalisingprospect

isameetingbetweenFuryandAnthonyJoshua,whocurrently

holdstheIBF,WBOandWBAheavyweightbelts.If“greedand

boxingpoliticscanbeparkedatthedoor”–andthat’sahugeif

–thenthetwoBritishboxersshouldmeetinthesummer,most

likelyintheUK.“Whereverandwheneverithappens,Furywill

startfavourite.”

Boxing: Fury’s demolition job

“Hello again, England,” said OwenSlotin

TheTimes.It’sgood tohaveyouback.Here, in

Sunday’s24-12 winoverIreland,was the team

that“powered EnglandtotheWorldCup final”

lastautumn–andnotthe onethat went onto

lose miserablytoSouthAfrica. AtTwickenham,

the hostswerein dominant form: their“winning

quality”wastheirintensity,particularlyin

defence.Truth betold,theywereonlyreallyat

theirbestinthe first half;butwhen theydipped

inthesecondit hardlymattered, “soflat”were

the Irish. Thevictoryleftthem second intheSix

Nations table, keepingtheminthe hunt for the

title –although that wouldrequireFrance tolose

at leastoneoftheirtwo remaining matches.

This, finally, wasaperformance toexorcise

the demonsoft he World Cup,said MickCleary

in The Daily Telegraph. Theyhad wontheir

previous match,against Scotland, but therewas still“aneed for

aclean sing of the system”. Now, the“midwinter blues” have

been well andtruly banished.Onceagain, some of EddieJones’s

selections lookedquestionable, said Andy Bull in TheGuardian.

On paper, theheadcoach’steam seemed tobe “full of square

pegs inroundholes”: he played Jonathan Joseph,acentre,on

the wing;Courtney Lawes,asecond row, on theflank; and

TomCurry,aflanker, at No.8.B ut allthree impressed. Evenif

Curr ystilllooks out ofposition,“heisagoodenoughplayer to

get away withit”;Lawes was namedmanofthe matc hfor al lhis

carries and tackles. Andwhat team could cope withMaro Itoje,

a“one-man swarm”,whenhe’s in th is form,asked Chris Foyin

the DailyMail. Or Manu Tuilagi “pounding over thegainline”?

It wasa“wall-to-wallonslaught”.

Thismatchhad beenbilled asthebattle ofthe

Farrells,said RobertKitsonin TheGuardian.

On oneside,EnglandcaptainOwenFarrell;

on theother,his fatherAndy, the Ireland head

coach.It’s safe tosay thatFarrell juniorhadthe

betterday.Untilthefinalquarter, the Irishwere

unabletomatch theiropponents for“power,

control,energy,pace”.Butthecoachdeserves

alittle patience,saidTomCaryin TheDaily

Telegraph. Afterall,thiswas only histhird

match inthejob.Hisfirsttwowereboth

victories–the second,against Wales,a

“particularlyencouraging”performance.And

he hasalready lifted the moodinIreland’s camp.

The problem,though, is that Farrell seniorhas

stuckwith prettymuchthe same team “who

havebeenunder performingfor t he best part of

12 months”.He hasretai nedfaith in t he side’s

“old hands”, allof whom endured “difficult

afternoons”–JonathanSexton, the34-year-oldcaptain, in

particular. Now,Farrellmustdecide whether to stickwith the

veterans,orto“buil danewteam” around youngblood.

Whateverhechooses,“the honeymoon period is over”.

Six Nations: England overpower Ireland

Rugby UnionIn the Six Nations, France beat Wales 27-23.

Scotland beat Italy 17-0.

CricketEngland began their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign

withasix-wicket defeat to South Africa.

FootballLiverpool’s 3-2 win over West Ham put them 22 points

clear at the top of the Premier League.

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