Torn between his desire to see great fights materialise and the long-term well-being of professional boxers, Andy Lee appreciates the reasoning behind Tyson Fury's decision to all but put a rematch with Deontay Wilder on ice, for the time being.
After a stellar heavyweight bout between the pair ended in a draw late last year, talk of a re-match was near instantaneous. Despite the sounds coming from both fighters' camps as the WBC sanctioned a second bout, Fury's decision to sign a promotional deal with Top Rank that would bring his fights to ESPN temporarily halted the process.
A move that looks set to line Tyson Fury up for a number of bout against lesser opponents before any potential re-match with Wilder (or indeed a fight with Anthony Joshua), Andy Lee can respect the impetus behind the British boxer's decision.
"It looks like he's going to put [a Wilder re-match] off and have a couple of easy fights," Lee surmised on Wednesday's OTB AM.
"I can see why because you've got one career and you don't want to be getting out with everyone saying, 'Oh he had great fights, he was a great champion,' but he can't even put a sentence together now, he's walking on his heels.
I can see from Fury's point of view where he's thinking, 'I've been dropped twice heavily in that fight, do I actually want to go in with this guy again?'
"You have to think about your health as well, and I can see from Fury's point of view where he's thinking, 'I've been dropped twice heavily in that fight, do I actually want to go in with this guy again?'"
From the viewpoint of a boxing fan, however, Lee concedes that such a scenario is disappointing.
"[It is dispiriting] in the short-term," Lee admitted, "but if he gets those fights in the long-term and he wins them, then all of this makes sense.
"The point being that he'll hopefully get those fights eventually.
Throughout the interim, Lee is certain that Tyson will need to augment his style should he find himself fighting lesser opponents on American television.
"He's going to have to knock them out," Lee said of Fury when fighting on ESPN.
"In America, the only currency is knockouts.
"They don't want to see two eighteen-stone men pawing at each other, they want to see you going for it."
To date, Fury has won 19 of his 27 successful bouts by knockout.
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