What the Wilder vs. Fury fight can teach us about politics.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? You get what we had Saturday night California. Current WBC heavy weight Champion Deontay Wilder (then 40-0) went up against then 27-0 and once heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. What made this fight so appealing was the wide range of story lines to choose from. Two undefeateds, Fury's comeback from substance abuse and mental illness, Wilder's knock out capabilities (39 of his 40 bouts he won by TKO). But what also made this tale of the tape so interesting was you could not pick two more polar opposite contenders if you tried.
Tyson Fury was born in Manchester, England and much like Brad Pitt in the movie Snatch was born into a proud gypsy family. That's right... Gypsies, nomads, travelers, Pikey. The now 6'9, 257 pounder hails from a proud lineage of bare knuckle champions. Fighting is literally in his blood. And the name! Being named after the then heavy weight champion Mike Tyson and pair that with the last name FURY, was there ever a doubt Tyson Fury was to be a great fighter?
Deontay Wilder was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Wilder grew up with aspirations of playing professional basketball, or football. Boxing was just a hobby until his daughter was born with a congenital heart disease. Deontay needed money, so he decided to pursue boxing as a more lucrative alternative to the other sports. Deontay had a quick rise to fame for winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but also for his devastating knock out power.
Flash forward to December 1st, 2018. For months you had the two fighters sparring back and forth in a war of the words. Fury publicly questioned Wilder's skill set and even his commitment to the sport suggesting Wilder just kind of fell into it and that Wilder's prior 39-0 record was against softer, handpicked opponents. Then you had Wilder firing back saying that Fury was using his substance abuse and mental illness as an "out". Wilder also brought up race suggesting that if he, Wilder, retired for the same reasons that Fury did, that the media would call him a "druggy" and a "psycho" rather than applaud him for overcoming his obstacles like they had done for Fury. Well, they both were going to get there chance to make their presence known.
The two undefeated heavyweights went back and fourth with Fury controlling most of the fight, but not without Wilder knocking him down not once, but TWICE. The second knock down came in the 12th and final round when Wilder sent Fury to the canvas with his eyes rolled back. Then as if he was possessed, Fury sat up and was on his feet by the 8 count. With much controversey, the fight ended in a draw, but what happened next was in my opinion more impressive than the fight itself:
After the draw the two warriors came together and embraced a number of times. It wasn't just their actions, but their words as well:
"We are the best in the world. The respect was mutual"- Wilder
"... I have nothing but respect and admiration for Deontay Wilder... he's a true fighting man and I respect him to the max..." - Fury
American v.s English, Knock out power v.s skill and finesse, chizzled physique v.s beer belly, black v.s white. Months of vitriol and barbs thrown at each other at times getting very personal. These two came from opposite ends of the spectrum in every way, shape and form and it all culminated into one bloody night in California. After the punches were thrown and the final bell rang, both accepted the result no matter how much they agreed, or disagreed with the outcome. The hugged and even kissed showing an overflow of respect and class to their counterpart and then... promised to do it again in the future!
I wish capital hill and the people of this country could do the same. Four years of barbs and hatred for the "other side" comes to a glorious whitehead on the second Tuesday in November. There is a winner and a loser. But unlike in the Wilder v. Fury bout, after the votes have been tallied and a winner is crowned, the bout continues for another 4 years until the next election. This country is bruised, battered and bloodied. It is tired of punching, tired of getting punched and quite frankly tired of fighting.
If you asked both fighters if they were happy with the results of fight they would both say no, but quickly follow it up with "but, it is what it is and I can't change it now and I look forward to doing this again". We all love a good campaign season and 2020 is poised to be one of the most important elections in recent history (since the last election...). But when the votes are tallied no matter the victor, I think we all deserve a little time off.