Tyson Fury will be returning to the ring this afternoon, but unusually you won’t be able to watch it. Yet.
The North West boxer seems to be playing the long game, as he heads for a potential live blockbuster on Netflix against Anthony Joshua.
According to Fury, the only cameras at his fight in Thailand will be those filming “my hit Netflix TV show” – that’s the third series of At Home With the Furys.
It’s not the only unusual thing about the fight against Mariusz Wach, which is effectively a warm up for a potential bout against Anthony Joshua.
It will take place in front of just 1500 people at the Max Muay Thai stadium in Pattaya and Fury will also be first on the card, not headlining the night.
This isn’t because Fury has become publicity shy, in fact it’s probably the opposite, as it does appear to be a bit of streaming choreography. Given that Joshua fights his warm-up 4,000 miles away in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against Kristian Prenga.
That gives a Fury enough time to pop onto a private jet and be filmed with Joshua in the ring, to announce their long-awaited super-fight. On Netflix.
Providing of course that they both win.
Then the longest running soap opera in boxing history may finally reach a conclusion.
READ MORE – Netflix confirms Tyson Fury docuseries
Fury has proved a hit for Netflix, not only with his documentary, but also his return to the ring in April, to beat Arslanbek Makhmudov. That was aired live on the platform, which is also likely to be the home of a future Joshua versus Fury fight.
Earlier this week, Netflix stated that it was putting more effort into its live programming.
This year, it expected to spend around 5% of its content budget on live productions, working out at around $1bn, but that was set to increase.
Co-CEO, Greg Peters stated that live events “do a lot of lifting for us” in terms of getting new subscribers.
“They’re good for monetisation. They drive ad revenue, fandom,” he added.
