By Tim Royner: Frank Warren is predicting a knockout win for Tyson Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) in his rematch coming up in a month from how against Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) on February 22.
Warren thinks that Fury’s improved fitness, and his superior boxing ability will lead him to a stoppage victory over the unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Wilder at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Like many people, Warren thinks Fury was robbed in his fight with Wilder in 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The judges scored it a controversial 12 round draw, but few boxing fans agreed with the decision. Nevertheless, Fury is ready to challenge Wilder again, but this time he wants to make sure the judges don’t take away another victory for him.
To get the win, Fury must stay upright, and avoid standing in front of the big hitting 6’7″ Wilder for prolonged periods of time. In their first fight, Wilder only briefly stopped to exchange with Wilder, and it cost him in getting dropped in round 9 and 12.
Warren: Fury will stop Wilder
“Deontay does what he does. He’s dangerous, and he can lose 11 rounds of the fight and knock you out in the last round,” said Warren to Queensbury Promotions on Wilder vs. Fury 2. “That’s what he is. He’s a phenomenal puncher, and he’s the most dangerous heavyweight in 30 odd years.
“What you’re not saying about Tyson’s last fight against [Otto] Wallin is he got badly cut. I always say one punch can change a fight, and that punch changed the fight. Most people felt that fight could have been stopped.
“So he was fighting to ensure that it wasn’t stopped,” Warren said on Fury’s fight with Wallin. “He had to change his game plan, which shows you how adaptable he is to ensure the referee or the doctor didn’t change the outcome of the fight.
“Under those circumstances, he did extremely well,” Warren said about Fury. “He’s a guy that can fight orthodox, southpaw, back foot, front foot. And he has tremendous variety, and that’s the difference.
“Whereas Deontay is what he is,” said Warren. “He’s a tremendous puncher. I think he needs to do exactly what he did last time. He’ll be fitter, he’ll be better, and he’ll be more able. I believe he’ll stop him. I’m predicting he’ll stop him. And I think he’ll be too much for him in every department,” said Warren.
Fury hurt Wilder several times in their fight last time, but he couldn’t finish him. When Fury tried to get Wilder out of there, he got sloppy, and smothered his own work fighting in close. Fury is a better puncher when he’s a medium range, but he failed to maintain the proper distance. Against lesser fighters, Fury has been able to knock them out when getting in close range.
Warren: Fury is the best heavyweight in the world
“Well over three quarters of his opponents, he stops,” said Warren to Queensbury Promotions about Fury. “Look at that last round [against Wilder]. He got up off the floor. In the last 30 seconds in that round, he wasn’t far away from a stopping Deontay.
“He was backing him up, and he was in trouble,” said Warren. “When he [Fury] got up off the floor, a lot of people thought it was all over. I would have taken the win, because there was a rematch clause anyway.
“He should have gotten the win, and there was a rematch clause,” said Warren about Fury against Wilder. “That was exciting stuff at the edge of your seat all the way through. I want to see that again. Tyson is the best heavyweight in the world, and Ring Magazine agrees with me,” said Warren.
Fury looked like he was done for in the 12th round against Wilder, but he showed a lot of heart in beating the count. Once Fury was back on his feet, the crowd got behind him, and gave him energy to turn the tables on Wilder. Before that, Fury was looking tired, and starting to get hit by Wilder.
We don’t know yet who the #1 heavyweight in the division is, but he could have that answer by 2021. It could happen this year. Joshua said he would vacate one of his titles if it means he could get a big fight the fans want to see. Obviously, vacating the IBF or WBO belts wouldn’t be a big deal for Joshua if he can get the Wilder-Fury 2 winner straightaway.
Fans want to see Fury vs. Joshua
“They’re both undefeated, and didn’t get beat by some little fat guy. I actually think when Anthony Joshua said that, he wasn’t serious,” Warren said about Joshua saying he wants to spar Fury.
“Sometimes you say things. I’ve done that before in an interview where I said, ‘Why did I say that?’ Who gives a s— about sparring. I want to see them fight each other. The fans want to see them fight each other. We don’t want to see it behind closed doors. Fight each other.
“So if Tyson wins this fight [against Wilder], and let’s get it on, and it’s a great fight for the fans,” said Warren about Joshua vs. Fury. “British boxing at its best, and British sport at it’s best. It’s the biggest event. It’ll be the biggest event since England won the World Cup in 1966. Without a doubt,” Warren said in the biggest boxing fight in history.
Anthony Joshua likely wasn’t serious when he said he wanted to spar Fury to assist him in getting ready for Wilder. Right now, Joshua is trying to his name in the news so boxing fans don’t forget about him, and he’s making sure he says things people want to hear.
A win for Fury against Wilder will set-up the Joshua match. Joshua vs. Fury will be a huge fight worldwide, but especially in the UK. AJ and his promoter Eddie Hearn are both saying they want Fury to win against Wilder, because they both know how big a fight with him would be.
Fury facing the biggest puncher since Foreman
“Mega, mega, mega event. This is a fight that I want to see. The whole thing leading up to the fight,” said Warren on Wilder vs. Fury 2. “You’ve got this guy that is the ultimate showman in my opinion.
The biggest showman since Muhammad Ali against probably the biggest puncher [Wilder] since going back to George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, going back that far. This is excitement of the best order. Do not miss it,” said Warren.
“Tyson was robbed,” said Warren about Fury’s fight with Wilder. “Did I think it was going to happen again [rematch]? Of course, I thought it would happen again. There was a rematch clause in the contract, so it was going to happen again, but he was robbed. Subsequently, events overtook themselves. We were discussing what we were going to do.
Wilder is one of the biggest punchers in the last 30 years, but probably not the biggest. Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson deserve recognition. Those two were capable of throwing with more power with different types of punches than Wilder. Lewis and Tyson had power in their left hand shots, and they both were capable of stopping their opponents with uppercuts. Moreover, they possessed excellent jabs, which they used to control their opponents.
In Wilder’s case, he just has a good right hand. His left hand is weak, and he doesn’t throw uppercuts with devastating power. As far as Wilder’s jab goes, it’s not powerful, and doesn’t use it much in his fights.
Fury has had more time to build-up his popularity
“I was talking to Shelly Finkel about making a rematch, and then this offer came through with ESPN to build Tyson’s profile in the States with ESPN and Bob Arum, and we decided to go down that road, which would make it a more lucrative,” said Warren on the rematch with Wilder.
“It would give Tyson a bit more. He’d been out of the ring for a while. He fought two easy jobs, which you would expect coming into his comeback having lost 11 stone.
“Not just losing the weight, but all the issues he’d been through mentally, and all the problems he had with the dark moments of despair,” said Warren about Fury. “We decided to go down that road, and build that fight where it is now, and obviously on February 22, it’s going to be a mega-event.”
The rematch between Wilder and Fury is so much bigger now than it would have been had they fought each other last May. That’s what Wilder wanted. He was hoping to get right back into the ring, and battle Fury in the first half of 2019. Had he done this, the interest from fans would have been less than it is now.
Fury has had more time to build his popularity with American boxing fans by fighting Otto Wallin and Tom Schwarz. He did a great job of beating both fighters, and he’s more popular.
Wilder needs to help promote the rematch with Fury to make it huge, because he can’t sell the fight all by himself. With Fury’s showmanship, Wilder might be thinking he’ll take a free ride in the promotion, and let him market the rematch.
Wilder vs. Fury 2 will be bigger than first fight
“It was built after the first fight, and now it’s super built,” said Warren on Fury vs. Wilder rematch. “It’s a great fight, and anybody that’s involved in boxing wants to see. It’s a great fight the first time around, and the next one is going to be even better. Tyson is at the top of his game now, and he’s not in a situation where he has lost 11 stone in weight to fight Wilder. He’s now training for a fight rather than training to lose the weight.
“He’s a much bigger star now,” said Warren about Fury. “Besides the fact the great fight that he had,” Warren said about Fury. “The fact that he was robbed, and everybody in boxing could see that and agreed to that. He’s now in the situation now where he’s fought in WWE, which he was a tremendous success in that. He’s had his autobiography out, which in the UK was the #1 bestseller on Amazon.
“All the time he’s doing something. He’s a very, very busy guy, and he’s broadened his appeal and his fan base,” Warren continued about Fury. “And he’s turned his career, and more importantly his life around. He’s gone from being what he felt was an outside to being inclusive now, and people love him.
“They love him from where he came from and what he’s done. The WWE was all about being in the gym and training. So he was keeping himself in condition, and so he was working,” said Warren about Fury.
Without question, the Wilder-Fury II rematch will be bigger than the first fight. Just how much bigger is unclear. Fury claims that Wilder didn’t do his part recently in showing up for an event to talk about their rematch.
Nobody will teach Fury new moves
“No, I don’t, but Tyson told me he worked with him many, many years ago when Manny Steward was alive,” said Warren about Fury’s new trainer. “He’s Manny Steward’s nephew,” said Warren about Fury’s new trainer SugarHill Steward.
“Ben [Davison] did magnificent for him. They were very close, and they were like Siamese twins at times. And they were living together.
“Ben did a fantastic job of getting Tyson in position where for him it was a good place to be,” said Warren. “But Tyson and him have got to the stage where they had a chat, and it’s an amicable separation. I hope they work together in the future.
“Anything can happen in boxing. Tyson felt like he needed something extra or different in his camp, and that’s where he’s at. At the end of the day, he’s the guy that has to get in the ring.
“Tyson is a very competent boxer. I don’t believe anybody is going to teach him any moves. He’s a natural, gifted fighter. It’s just being in there with him, refining certain things that he does.
“Now hopefully, Sugarhill now will do that. Ben is not there. You’ve got to look at what is there, and deal with it. What is there is a new trainer, and hopefully, they’ll gel and work together and refine the super talents he’s got. And produce a performance that was even better than last time out,” said Warren.
It’s not a big deal that Fury has dropped trainer Ben Davison in favor of Javan ‘SugarHill’ Steward and Andy Lee. Those guys have more experience in boxing than Davison, and they can potentially teach Fury a few things.
As Warren points out, Fury isn’t going to learn any new moves, as he’s got the skills already.
