Deontay Wilder wants Tyson Fury next, then Wladimir Klitschko

By Boxing News - 01/18/2015 - Comments

deontay200(Photo credit: Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Scott Gilfoid: Following his impressive masterclass performance last night against WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs), America Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) said he’d like to make his first defense of his WBC title against Britain’s Tyson Fury if he’s up to the challenge. Deontay said that he wants to face the 6’9” Fury next followed by a big unificiation match against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko later in the year.

Deontay, 6’7”, is putting it on Fury to see if he’s interested in the fight, or if he prefers to face Wladimir for the title instead of him. Fury is Wladimir’s WBO mandatory challenger. However, you’ve got to figure that a Fury vs. Wilder fight would be a much bigger bout than Fury vs. Wladimir.

Wilder is arguably a much better talker than Wladimir, and he’d likely do a far better job marketing a fight between him and Fury than Wladimir. There’s really no comparison between the two of them. A Fury-Wilder bout is a fight that could be big enough to be put in Wembley Stadium in London and sold on pay-per-view in the UK.

“I would love to fight Tyson Fury,” Wilder said after the fight via Hattonpromotions.com. “I want to defend it against Tyson Fury and end the year out with Klitschko a unification. A unification bout with Klitschko. I think that would be a hell of a year. I think he’s [Fury] doing a good job of what he’s doing in boxing. As far as being entertaining, I think he’s ahead of his business in the UK in entertaining and I think I’m doing the same in America – and I think that is going to be a big clash down the road.”

I wish I could say Fury would say yes to a fight against Deontay Wilder, but I can’t see him taking the fight, even though it would likely pay him a lot more than a clash against Klitschko. The thing is a loss for Fury against Wladimir would be less damaging to his reputation than it would be in a knockout defeat against Wilder.

The reason being is that Wladimir is seen as the best heavyweight in the division right now, and he’s been considered the top guy since 2006. A Fury loss to Wladimir doesn’t hurt him nearly as much as a loss to Deontay, because the American talent is really just now getting his career going after turning pro in 2008.

Wilder is basically just starting out, and he’s not yet become the huge star around the world that he will likely be later on. If Fury gets smashed by Wilder and left in a heap of broken and bruised flesh on the canvas, I think it would do hurt harm to Fury’s boxing career for a long, long time, and he might not ever be able to regain the popularity, such as it is, that he has right now in the UK. Fury loses a lot less to his reputation in a one-sided beat down against Wladimir than he does against Wilder, in my estimation.

“There’s nothing like the big guys going at it. It’s like a freak show, so I can’t wait on that one. I can’t wait for it,” Wilder said.

Earlier this week, Fury talked trash about Wilder on his twitter, saying “All this talk Stiverne vs. Wilder? Stiverne a little fat pudding, Wilder a lanky chinless hype gob! Tyson Fury the best fighter on da planet.”

I wonder what Fury has to say about Deontay after his impressive victory over Stiverne? I doubt Fury would give a serious comment on the fight, because there’s really very little to criticize in Deontay’s performance other than perhaps him looking a little tired in the last five rounds of the fight, and him not being able to use his right hand like he had earlier in the fight due to him injuring it in the 4th. Wilder won the fight by the scores of 118-109, 119-108 and 120-107. The scores clearly showed Deontay’s mastery of Stiverne.



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