By Jim Maltzman: David Haye admits that he got it wrong with his prediction last Saturday in the rematch between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder and Tyson Fury at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Going into the fight, Haye revealed that he was siding with ‘The Bronze Bomber’ to defeat Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs). Haye’s reasons for picking Deontay was based on his punching power, and the way he had twice dropped him in their first fight in December 2018. What Haye didn’t factor in was the near 20 lbs of weight that Fury packed onto his 6’9″ frame and his change of fight tactics.
Fury came into the rematch with Wilder a different fighter than the one that had struggled with him last time. The result was Wilder getting pummeled by Fury last Saturday from start to finish in a 7th round TKO loss.
Haye admits being wrong about Fury
“Although he came to the ring with a crown, there were a lot of fans that weren’t 100 percent convinced,” said Haye to IFL TV on Fury’s win over Deontay. “I was at the front of that queue. “I didn’t know that he could do what he did there. He did what his dad [John Fury] said he could do.
“I asked him; I was with John Fury at the BT roundtable. He bet me 100 grand. I asked him the direct question, ‘You’re telling me that if your son hits Wilder on the chin in the first two or three rounds, nothing is going to happen.’ He looked me dead in the face and said, ‘Yes.’
“You can watch it back, and that’s what happened. I thought, ‘Obviously he’s not taking it seriously,’ but oh how wrong I was, and how much humble pie I ate last night and this morning.
“He took Wilder’s best in the first couple of rounds,” Haye said of Tyson taking Deontay’s best punches early. “The shots he got hit with were clean on the button, and the additional stone, which I thought would be the wrong thing to do was the correct thing to do. He was able to absorb it, and walk him down,” said Haye on Fury’s chin.
Had Wilder shown better conditioning, and if he’d used movement, he very could have beaten Fury. In that case, the changes Fury made to his game would be second-guessed today. All the things that Fury did to change things around for the rematch would be criticized today. Wilder didn’t look right, and his stamina, which is usually his strong suit, was missing.
Fury chewed Wilder up and spat him out
“The only guy I’ve seen him walk down is Steve Cunningham when he wanted to get him out of there. I thought, ‘He can do that to someone that is 6’2″ or 6’3″, a former cruiserweight.’ He wasn’t a big cruiserweight, Cunningham. But he can’t do that against Wilder, who is 6’7”, and the biggest puncher in boxing history.
“Oh, how wrong I was. He put on a boxing masterclass, and absolutely chewed him up and spat him out,” said Haye on Fury’s win over Deontay. “It was one of the most one-sided unification heavyweight fights I can think of. It was insane.
“I still do [think Wilder is the hardest punching heavyweight]. It hasn’t changed off the strength of that, but maybe Tyson Fury’s chin is one of the best ever,” said Haye.
Wilder’s training team looked like they didn’t prepare him properly for Fury’s game plan, and that ultimately cost him. As soon as Wilder’s team noticed that Fury was bulking up, they should have prepared Wilder to use movement to keep from getting mauled.
With Wilder giving up over 40 lbs. to Fury, the smart thing to do would have been to stick and move, and not let him use that size to mug him on the inside. Wilder failed to do that, which played into Fury’s hands. A mobile heavyweight would have been a nightmare for Fury last weekend, as they would keep him on the outside, and not let him use his size.
Fury would then have been forced to move his football-sized frame around the ring for the entire fight and would have faded.
Tyson Fury needs to keep training the same way
“Maybe the additional weight, and the new training team, the new setup is exactly what Tyson Fury needs,” Haye said. “It looks like whatever he did in the lead up to that fight, he needs to keep doing it, because the difference in this fight and the four or five fights prior [was huge]. Even in the Klitschko fight, Tyson Fury would have knocked out Klitschko; this new Tyson Fury is a Tyson Fury we’ve never seen.
“I’ve never seen it. I didn’t know that type of heavyweight existed on earth genuinely. I always had Tyson Fury in the top 3, even in the strength of the win that he didn’t get [against Wilder]. He got a draw the first time around in the Staples Center,” said Haye.
What worked for Fury against Wilder may not work in the same well against a fighter like Joshua, who won’t foolishly back up against the ropes the way Wilder did to get mauled. That’s a poor way of fighting against a guy that looks like he belongs on an offensive line in the NFL.
Joshua won’t make the same mistakes Wilder did, and you can bet he’ll move, jab and frustrate Fury for 12 rounds just like he did with Andy Ruiz Jr. Fury has slow feet, and Joshua would take advantage of that by circling and out-boxing him.