By Allan Fox: Regis Prograis was “shocked” at seeing WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder get so easily dismantled by Tyson Fury in losing a 7th round TKO in their rematch last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Nevada.
Former WBA light-welterweight champion Prograis says Wilder shouldn’t take the rematch with Fury, and he needs to sit recover outside of the ring for one year before fights again. Prograis is one of many people that are advising Wilder to not fight Fury in an immediate rematch, as a result of the beating he took.
Wilder’s shock loss was similar to Wladimir Klitschko’s 2nd round knockout defeat at the hands of Corrie Sanders. Like Wilder’s knockout defeat against Fury, few boxing fans expected Wladimir to be taken apart by the late Sanders, who was 36 at the time.
Prograis: Wilder shouldn’t take rematch with Fury
“I saw something special. This was a fight for the ages, a historic fight,” said Regis Prograis to Boxing Social. “Tyson Fury definitely shocked me for sure because I was definitely rolling with Deontay Wilder for this fight. Sugar Hill should get tremendous credit because he told him that’s the game plan, and he went out and executed and knocked him out.
“He shocked the world. I don’t know if it’s the greatest heavyweight [performance]. It’s just a shocker,” said Prograis on Fury’s win over Wilder. “It potentially could be for this era now. It was great. NO, definitely not,” said Prograis when asked if Wilder should take the immediate rematch with Fury.
I think he’s hurt. His ear was bleeding, and his eardrum has been busted,” Prograis said about Wilder. “That actually happened to me before in sparring, and it knocks your equilibrium off.”
Wilder had NO plan-B at all in the fight. He was out there throwing right hands and just hoping he could land one. When that failed to work, the cupboard was bare as far as Wilder having a backup plan to use to get him back into the fight. Fury made it look embarrassingly easy in beating Wilder, and it was difficult to watch. Wilder looked so unprepared.
After this loss, Wilder may not ever be the same fighter. It’s not just the physical part. Mentally he’s not going to be ready to fight Fury in a trilogy match in November or December of this year. Without a new head trainer, and a complete re-tooling of his game, he’s likely to be easy work for Fury in their third fight. In addition, Wilder needs two or three tune-ups before he’d have a serious shot at beating Fury.
Deontay shouldn’t fight for one year – Prograis
“So for me, I think he should be out of the ring for close to a year, and let him heal up because you don’t want to be hurt forever basically.
“They got to have it over there,” said Prograis about a fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua needing to take place in the UK. “I think they should have it over there. It’ll probably be 100,000 people or even more than that,” said Prograis.
Not fighting for a year is probably not a good idea for Wilder, because he’s 34-years-old. Having him sit and rust for a year could finish him as a fighter. Wilder is now being seen as a former paper champion by a lot of boxing fans. When you look at him, you’ve got to give him credit for what he’s accomplished.
Deontay is basically a cruiserweight, who fights at heavyweight. You could see the size difference between Wilder and Fury last night. It was a cruiserweight fighting a super heavyweight, and Wilder lacked the boxing skills to make up for his lack of size.
One good thing that Wilder has going for him is Fury plans on retiring after 3 more fights, or at least that’s what he’s been saying. If Fury does retire, then Wilder will have a good chance of winning back his WBC title.
Prograis to fight Maurice Hooker on April 17
“It’s looking like it’s going to be Maurice Hooker on April 17th,” said Prograis. “We’re waiting to finalize the contracts.”
Michael Hunter: Deontay needs to have a strategic plan for his fights
“I thought it was a good performance, and I thought he did exactly what he was supposed to do,” said Michael Hunter to Fighthype on the performance by Fury over Deontay. “He executed his game plan, and he said he was going to do what he was going to do. He showed his cards upfront, and that’s what he did. So he’s the champ tonight,” Regis said of Tyson Fury telling fans he would slug with Wilder.
“Well, he [Wilder] usually only has one answer [right-hand] anyway. I think that one answer was taken away. I think he did, and I think he tried. He didn’t not try, but I think it ran out. He’s always been coming from behind in the last few fights, he’s been coming from behind.
“I just think you just can’t fight that way by thinking you can come from behind, and fight your way through it. There has to be some strategic plan eventually, and tonight was just displaying that,” said Hunter.
It’s not just that Wilder needs a strategic plan. He needs boxing skills, and he’s got to add more punches to his arsenal.
