Fury vs Joshua is the biggest since Ali vsFrazier-Arum
Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua is the biggest heavyweight fight since Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier.
That is according to legendary promoter Bob Arum, who staged the iconic ‘Fight of the Century’ at New York’s Madison Square Garden five decades ago.
Now Arum, who turns 90 this year, is on the cusp of delivering another history-making bout in boxing’s blue riband division.
He believes Fury and Joshua’s pay-per-view pulling power and online presence – not available during Ali’s reign – can grip the wider public’s attention like never before.
Arum told SunSport: “The closest heavyweight fight it compares to would be the first Ali-Frazer fight which was in March of 1971.
“The whole world stopped. Why? Because Ali couldn’t fight because of the draft situation, couldn’t fight for three and a half years but he was still undefeated.
“He captured everyone’s imagination, unfortunately we didn’t have the technology we have now.
“We didn’t have satellites domestically like we do now to get the signal, we had to use telephone company longlines and we were limited to the number of people who could watch it.
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“There was no pay-per-view at the time, but still it was by far the biggest fight that I had ever experienced then and, looking back on it, now.
“And I really think Fury-Joshua will begin to approach that first Ali-Frazer fight.”