By Trevor McIntyre: Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury did what fans expected him to in defeating Francesco Pianeta by a lopsided 10 round points decision tonight to pave his way to a title fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder for November.
(Photo credit: Chris Roberts/Frank Warren)
The unbeaten Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) then climbed into the ring for a little bit of banter with Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) in announcing their fight in three months from now in November.
Pianeta (35-5-1, 21 KOs) fought like a slow, plodding sparring partner throughout the contest in losing by a 100-90 score to Fury at Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Boxing News 24 scored it for Fury by 10 rounds to 0. In other words, Fury won by a 100-90 score.
The southpaw Pianeta didn’t look like he was putting maximum effort. He was fighting slowly and not taking the fight to Fury the way he needed to for him to have a chance of winning.
In the 6th, Fury started to fight on the inside, sticking his head up against Pianeta’s and hitting him with uppercuts and body shots. The referee warned Fury late in the round due to him banging heads with Pianeta in close. Fury looked a lot different in the round compared to how he had fought in the first five rounds of the contest.
Fury frequently fought out of the southpaw stance to try and trick Pianeta and throw him off, but it didn’t really matter. Pianeta was coming forward regardless to try and land his best shots.
The official date and the venue for the Fury vs. Wilder fight is expected to be announced next week.
“The fight is on!” said Fury’s promoter Frank Warren in announcing the Fury vs. Wilder fight.
This is the fight that a lot of boxing fans are interested in seeing. They had hoped to watch Fury face IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, but the contest couldn’t get made. Fury took advantage of Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn’s failure to make the fight with Wilder. Fury jumped ahead of Joshua in snatching the Wilder fight. It’s a smart move for Fury because this is the best time to face Wilder. If Fury had waited until Wilder faces Joshua, he might end up with a lesser fight due to the possibility of Wilder losing that fight.
”This fight is official! …I can’t wait to fight you because I’m going to knock you out! Wilder said. “Tyson Fury won’t be taking the title back. This fight is the best fighting the best.”
Wilder will have the home advantage in facing Fury in Las Vegas, Nevada in November. The fight is expected to take place in the U.S rather than the UK for some reason.
“You can’t knockout what you can’t hit,” Fury said to Wilder. “I promise you I’m taking the WBC title and bringing it back to Belfast. When I get to Las Vegas, I’m knocking you the f—k out!”
