By Robert Addams: Teddy Atlas believes that Deontay Wilder has more room to improve upon his previous performance than Tyson Fury does going into their February 22 rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Fury fought the perfect fight and still got dropped twice
Atlas notes that lineal heavyweight champion Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) fought a near perfect fight against WBC champ Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) and still wound up on the canvas 2 times.
With Wilder’s huge punching power, Fury would have needed to run for 12 rounds. That’s not possible for a heavyweight, no matter how good their conditioning. They’ve got to be able to stand and fight, and Fury couldn’t do that against Wilder.
Fury can’t be expected to improve his punching power, because he’s tried to work on that his entire career without success. Him and his cousin Hughie Fury just haven’t been blessed in the power department. As a result, Fury won’t be able to make inroads in these areas.
Wilder has more room to improve than Fury
“Wilder and Fury in the rematch; Fury couldn’t have boxed better except for those two mistakes [in round 9 and 12],” said Atlas on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas. “‘So, Teddy, he could box better.’ Okay, I got you. In some ways, he couldn’t have done more than he did that night. So it’s going to be hard for him. Wilder could do more. There are so many more things.
“Maybe he can’t learn no more or maybe he’s gotten to the point where he’s not learning,” said Atlas on Wilder. “But there is more room for Wilder to get better. Fury just has to not make any mistakes, but he can’t do much more than he did that night. So in some ways, I would favor Wilder in that way. He can have a better performance,” said Atlas.
Wilder can improve in these areas:
- Targeting the body more
- Throwing straight punches
- Cutting off the ring better
- Ignoring Fury’s feints
- Not hesitating as much
- Attacking Fury harder in the early rounds
The only area that Fury can improve on his stamina, which enable to move more to keep from getting hit by Wilder’s thunderous right hands.
The fight was scored a 12 round draw, and Fury was quite lucky with that score. He could have lost, and some believe that if he wasn’t a popular fighter, Wilder would have won.
Trying to dodge Wilder’s right hand for a full 12 rounds proved to be impossible for the large-bodied 6’9″ Fury, who could no longer move his huge frame out of the way of the American’s concussive punches in the final 4 rounds.
Fury did an admirable job of avoiding Wilder’s power shots for a long as he did, but eventually he tired and was in the Alabama native’s target range.
Fury can’t get hit with Wilder’s right hand
“Just don’t get hit with that right hand,” said Atlas in giving Fury advice. “He was doing it [out-boxing Wilder]. I’ll finish up with the importance of how severe that right hand is [from Wilder] by using this story.
“You can be winning, just as you said, he was out-boxing him, right? It’s kind of like that guy that jumps off the Empire State building, and he’s going down, and around the 50th floor, he’s going passed the window, and the people are looking out the window at him as he’s going passed. He goes, ‘How am I doing?’ They say, ‘Good, so far.’ You’re in there with Wilder. ‘How am I doing?’ ‘Good, so far, but that concretes coming,’ you know what I mean? ‘That concretes coming fast. it’s coming, and you better find a way to find a parachute or something before it hits you,'” said Atlas.
It’s easier said than done for Fury to avoid getting hit by Wilder’s right hand. Wilder has 12 rounds to try and connect with one of his right-hand bombs, and he only needs to land once. Wilder is 6’7″ with more than enough height and reach to get to the 6’9″ Fury, and he’s not going to fight scared.
Wladimir Klitschko fought like he was terrified of getting hit with one of Fury’s counter right hands, so he never pulled the trigger on his shots. Consequently, Fury was able to beat him by a narrow 12 round decision in their fight in 2015. Wilder is a different story, because he’s not going to hold back in letting his hands go. If he misses, then he’s willing to deal with getting countered.
