By Barry Holbrook: Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez believes that Tyson Fury can stop Deontay Wilder tonight in their rematch in Las Vegas. Lopez is a big fan of the unbeaten 6’9″ Fury, and he’s saying that he can stop Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) if he’s consistent with his attack in the first two rounds, and switches his attack from downstairs to upstairs.
Tyson has put a lot of work into the rematch, dieting, changing trainers, and bulking up to 273 lbs. All of that work that Fury put in will be tested tonight when he gets inside the ring with the 6’7″ Wilder, who some view at the hardest punching heavyweight in boxing history.
Wilder the favorite with odds-makers
Fury is coming into tonight’s fight the underdog with the odds-makers, who have factored in the way that Wilder looked to be in command of at the end of their previous bout two years ago in 2018.
That fight was scored a disappointing draw at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, but it could have gone Fury’s way. If you ignore the cries of robbery by fans, Fury could have won if he’d not been knocked down twice by Wilder in the last half of the contest.
Teofimo gives keys to success for Tyson Fury
“I got to go for my guy Tyson Fury. I think he’s going to win by a knockout,” said Lopez to IFL TV. “And I believe he can because he has done it before in the first fight, but he stays consistent on it. He doesn’t think twice about it,” said Teofimo when asked if Fury can knock out Wilder in the second round like he’s been predicting.
“Stick with your jab, and have confidence with your jab. Watch the right hand from Wilder. Stick and move, stick and move, up and down, up and down. Touch the body, and come up.
“Trick him by pretending to go low, but come up top. He has the movement to slip and dip, and watch the punches that he throws,” said Lopez on Fury. “The whole thing now is to stay consistent. Once he hurts him [Wilder], take advantage of it. Two seconds, of course,” said Teofimo about Wilder only needing 2 seconds to stop Fury with one punch.
Wilder is likely to be more patient, and more composed for the rematch with Fury than he was for their first fight. The Bronze Bomber made the mistake of throwing a lot of wild right hands, and he did a poor job of landing his shots.
Fury’s head movement and his ability to escape to the outside gave Wilder headaches. Another thing that helped Fury was the way he would lean backwards when Wilder would throw a headshot. This allowed Tyson to avoid getting hit. Even when Wilder would land, his power was minimized.
Deontay shows all you need is the power to succeed
“Wilder doesn’t talk about going the distance,” said Lopez. “All he needs is two seconds, and it’s true. He showed against Luis Ortiz, and all the other fighters he’s faced. He’s a true heavyweight champion. All you need is power, and that’s what he has. You don’t want to take away everything else. You don’t want to bash his technique or anything. He has a beautiful one-two. And look at Teofilo Stevenson.
“Probably a lot of you don’t know, Teofilo Stevenson, Cuban, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, all he had was a one and a two [left and a right]. Jab-jab-right-hand. Klitschkos, jab-jab-right hand. Wilder, jab-jab-right hands. That’s all you need in the heavyweight division. Like Tyson Fury said, ‘I’m the biggest heavyweight with midget legs.’ Yeah, the tiniest little man, whatever. The heavyweight division is back,” said Lopez.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Teofilo Stevenson had a real basic offensive arsenal for the most part. Earlier in Stevenson’s career, he would jab and then follow with a right hand. When Stevenson got older, he would attack with big lefts and rights to score quick stoppages.
Wilder fights more like the way Stevenson did earlier in his career. Deontay tends to lead with a jab, and then follow it with a big right. Fury had an easy time predicting when Wilder would throw his right, and he couldn’t land against him until late.