By Kenneth Friedman: Tyson Fury came out of character on Saturday in playing Mr. nice guy at his second news conference with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles. Fury seemed to intentionally tone down his trash talking persona, and spent most of the time complimenting Wilder.
It was an odd press conference with a constant background drum beat, which seemed to be there to create static noise to break the deathly silence that permeated the first preference between the two.
The piped in drum beat did little to give the effect of excitement. Like in the first press conference, Wilder and Fury both looked half tranquilized, without energy. Neither guy looked happy to be there.
It might have helped if the entire teams were on stage, because that would at least get Wilder and Fury to feel like they needed to up the energy level. Someone needed to take over to create excitement, because Wilder and Fury weren’t capable of doing that.
Deontay is greatest KO puncher in history – Fury
“Numbers don’t lie, and this man’s knockout ratio alone says he’s the greatest knockout puncher in history in the heavyweight division,” said Fury of Wilder during Saturday’s news conference in LA. “You’re looking at a man who has knocked out 43 fighters in a row.
“Even if I hate this guy, it’s awesome. I’ve never fought anybody that has knocked out everybody he’s ever fought. You almost knocked me out, didn’t you? Nearly. Deontay has amazing power.
“No matter what is said with verbal blows, you’ve got to respect that. He’s had 10 defenses. He’s beaten Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis’ record. I wouldn’t mind being a s— boxer if I could knock 43 in a row by knockout. We’re the only two undefeated warriors that turned pro at the same time that are undefeated,” said Fury.
These are all things that Fury has said in countless interviews since the fight was signed. He was basically rehashing the comments that he’d already made. It’s too bad that Fury couldn’t come up with some new things to say, but he’s clearly taking a different tactic to try and create interest in the rematch.
Perhaps Fury feels that he was coming across like a braggart during the interviews during the college bowl games. So instead of spouting off about himself, he complimented Wilder repeated during Saturday’s press conference. This might not work either to create interest from fans in the fight.
What’s working against the two fighters being antagonistic towards each other is they know each other well. They like each other, and that makes it difficult to feign animosity.
Fury still predicting 2nd round KO of Wilder
“I stand by that statement,” said Fury when asked if he still intends on knocking out Wilder in round 2. “The first fight I wanted to outbox him and use my boxing skills, but it didn’t work. I’m about winning. So I count a draw as a loss, and he should too,” said Fury. “I’m very capable of knocking people out. Statistics don’t lie. He’s a much bigger puncher than me.
“No one can match me for heart and determination,” said Fury. “I like the way he was relaxing,” said Fury about Wilder’s last fight against Luis Ortiz.And I was impressed, not with the knockout, because I’ve seen him knock plenty of guys out before. Sure, he has the ultimate equalizer,” said Fury when asked if it’s okay if Wilder loses some of the early rounds. “If you win 11 1/2 rounds against Deontay Wilder with 30 seconds left, he can KO anybody,” said Fury.
Having the heart and determination is what could be the factors that lead Fury to victory on February 22, but he’s still going to need to take some big shots for him to win.
Tyson does have a high KO percentage on his record, but it’s not believable that he’ll be able to knockout Wilder. Fury couldn’t knockout his last opponent Otto Wallin, and he never came close to hurting Wilder last time they fought. It was Wilder that hurt Fury.
Wilder: Fury can’t knock me out
“I don’t think so,” said Wilder when asked if Fury has the power to knock him out. “We haven’t really seen that displayed. We’ve seen a couple of knockouts, but we haven’t seen a continuous of occurrence.
“I didn’t [feel Fury’s power in last fight]. I still think Tyson has pillows as fists. People say I have skills, but I have a punch. Everything in his body will be a target for me, and everything that can be hit,” said Wilder.
Deontay thinks Fury is bluffing with his knockout prediction, hoping to trick him into fighting defensively. Whether Fury fights aggressively or not, Wilder is going to be looking for the KO on the night. That’s how Wilder has always fought, and he’s not going to change that. Fury will try and knock Wilder out, but it’ll make him vulnerable when he does sit down on his shots.