By Sean Jones: Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury signed their contracts for their trilogy match on July 24th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) is off to an early start promoting the fight, saying he will knock out the former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder.
Not only is Fury predicting a stoppage, but he’s also saying he’s going to KO Wilder (42-1-1 41 KOs) in the first round.
Fury could be kidding himself if he expects the same Wilder to show up for their trilogy match in July as the one that he fought on February 2nd, 2020.
Deontay can win this fight, considering that he’ll have had 17 months to have learned from his loss to Fury. The first key point to grasp on why Wilder will be improved is because his right bicep is healthy after surgery.
“You’re getting knocked out. End of one round, you’re going. I’ve got your soul, your mojo, everything. I own you,” said Fury.
Wilder fought Fury with a torn bicep the last time they fought, which took away a considerable amount of his power. While it’s rare for fighters to be 100% healthy for their fights, it’s critical if their primary weapon is unavailable to be used.
In a nutshell, Fury fought a one-armed Wilder last year, who only had his left hand working at full strength. Wilder has never developed any power in his left, unfortunately.
“I want to give Deontay Wilder a beat down again. I want to show him who his boss is and who he works for,” said Fury to ESPN last Saturday.
“After I smash him to bits, he can come to my camp and carry my backs and give me a drink of water in beaten rounds in sparring when I fight the other mug, AJ.
“They’re both a pair of bums, and I won’t care who won because I’ll smash the both of them on the same night,” said Fury when asked who wins in a fight between Joshua and Wilder.
Fury didn’t want to fight Wilder again, though, as it took a court order from an arbitrator to force him to give him the rematch. Since being ordered by the arbitrator to give Wilder the rematch, Fury has seemed bitter about it.
That makes you wonder if the bluster that comes from Fury is deception to hide a guy that is afraid.
You can understand why Fury would be deeply afraid of what Wilder could do to him after watching their first fight in 2018. Wilder knocked Fury out cold in the 12th round in a fight that should have been stopped by the referee Jack Reiss.
He waited and counted to an unconscious Fury, which looked strange in this era in boxing. Referees don’t give counts to unconscious fighters, but this one did.
Of course, that makes a heck of a lot of sense. After all, Fury is losing out on a $75 million payday against Anthony Joshua on August 14th, and he only has himself to blame. Fury could have saved the fight with Joshua, but he chose not to pay Wilder a step aside.
You can argue that was a selfish move on Fury’s part not to pay Wilder to step aside, but so was the idea that he had of walking from his contract with him.
Fury should have given Wilder his contractual rematch earlier this year, but he didn’t want to and thought the contract was expired.
Someone from Team Fury guessed wrong, and now he’s got to fight in what appeared to be a rejuvenated Wilder, healthy and armed to the teeth by new trainer Malik Scott.
Wilder took a broom and swept out his old training team in getting rid of Mark Breland and Jay Deas. It’s been dreary business, but Wilder felt that he needed a change.
Before the arbitrator ruled against Fury last Monday, he had finished up touches to set up a fight against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua for August 14th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The arbitrator’s ruling spoiled months of backbreaking work by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.