By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder sent a SCARY message to Tyson Fury in the wake of the official announcement for their rematch on February 22, letting him know that he WON’T be getting up next time when he drives into the canvas.
WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) wants to put Fury down hard enough to where he won’t be able to climb off the canvas on February 22. It irritates Wilder that Fury survived the full 12 rounds against him, because it enabled him to parade around and call himself the ‘uncrowned champ.’
Fury has openly invalidated the judges’ decision by ignoring the 12 round draw they scored it, and calling himself the rightful WBC champion.
Wilder vs. Fury 2 needs a clear winner
To keep Fury and his fans from muddying the water again, Wilder’s goal is to destroy him in such a fashion where getting up WON’T be an option this time. Either way, it’s important that there’s a CLEAR winner this time, considering that it looks bad in the eyes of the fans when there’s controversy.
You can second guess the scoring by the judges and the referee’s decision to give Fury a count in the 12th. In terms of judging, the judges gave Fury many rounds in which both fighters landed the same amount of shots.
Judges normally give rounds to the fighter that lands the bigger punches, but they didn’t do that with Wilder-Fury. They gave Fury’s weaker punches just as much weight as Wilder’s harder blows. In other words, the judges scored the fight like it was an amateur contest rather than in a professional fight.
After February 22nd there will be no more unanswered questions. I will finish what I started, and this time @Tyson_Fury will not be getting up off that canvas so quickly. I’ve proven myself time and time again and I will do it again in February. #WilderFury2 pic.twitter.com/GkYSzNCBAU
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) December 27, 2019
With the little help from referee Jack Reiss, who played it old school, Fury was able to get up after being dropped by Wilder in the 12th round last year. A groggy-looking Fury just barely beat the count in getting back to his feet to keep from being stopped. This time, Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) vows that Fury won’t be getting off the deck as fast after he plants him there.
A lot at stake for Wilder vs. Fury 2
Last Friday, the rematch between Wilder and Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) was OFFICIALLY announced for February 22 on ESPN/FOX Sports PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. the two unbeaten mammoth heavyweights will be fighting to prove who the #1 fighter is in the division. The titles at stake are as follows:
- WBC heavyweight strap
- Ring Magazine belt
- Lineal champion
Those trinkets are less important than the fact that the Wilder vs. Fury 2 winner will be recognized as the #1 heavyweight on the planet. The casual boxing fans care little about the lineal WBC and Ring Magazine belt. All they care about is the perception that the winner of the Wilder-Fury 2 fight will be seen as the best fighter in the division. That’s what’s really at stake in this fight. Belts don’t matter when it comes to casual fans.
How did Fury get up last time?
In looking at the 12th round knockdown again, the referee chose not to go over to Fury right away after he was dropped by Wilder. Instead of doing that, the referee Reiss walked over to the far side of the ring and motioned to the timer. Just how many seconds that it took for Reiss to walk over to the side of the ring and then walk back to where Fury was is unclear.
Had Reiss just stayed where he was at and started counting the MOMENT Fury was dropped by Wilder, there’s a very good chance Tyson would have been stopped. His decision to walk all the way over to the far side of the ring to motion to the timer clearly ate up valuable time.
Wilder doesn’t want to give Fury another chance to get up
In the rematch, Wilder wants to make sure Fury doesn’t get a second chance of getting up from the knockdown like last time. The referee for the Wilder-Fury 2 rematch hasn’t been named yet, but it’s obviously going to be Reiss. That’s potentially bad news for Fury. There aren’t too many referees that would give a count if he’s knocked down like he was in the 12th.
If Wilder knocks Fury down again, he needs to make sure he doesn’t miss with his shots if he gets back up. After Fury was dropped in the 9th and 12th last time, Wilder missed badly with his follow up shots to finish him. Fury used a lot of head and torso movement to dodge Wilder’s big right hands when he attempted to finish him off. Although Wilder did connect with some beautiful shots, Fury was able to take the sting out of them by leaning away from them.
Can Fury withstand Wilder’s power for 12 rounds?
It’s a given that lineal heavyweight champion Fury will out-box Wilder for long stretches in the fight, but can take his power when does land? This isn’t baseball. As good as Fury on defense, he’s not going to pitch a perfect shutout against Wilder. What happens when the 6’7″ Wilder eventually lands one of his atomic right hand bombs on Fury’s chin will be interesting to see.
In ALL 42 fights Wilder has had in the professional ranks, his opponents have been knocked down. Fury was the only one that got back up to finish the fight, and that was a situation that could be questioned obviously. Should Fury have Fury been able to get back up? Wilder’s last opponent Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz fought even better than Fury did against ‘The Bronze Bomber,’ but it didn’t help him.
Once Wilder finally landed one of his fight-stopping right hands on the Cuban fighter Ortiz’s chin in the 7th, that was the end of story. The difference between Ortiz and Fury is that he was willing to stand and fight. Fury moved around the ring for 12 rounds, jabbing and trying to keep from getting. As a result, it was a lot easier for Wilder to eventually land his right hand on Ortiz than it was on Fury.
