By Sean Jones: Paulie Malignaggi believes that Deontay Wilder is going to look like a genius or a crazy person depending on the outcome of his third fight with Tyson Fury on July 24th.
The reason why former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) will be perceived as being deluded is that he’s forcing Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) to face him again after he had attempted to skip out on their rematch.
It’s actually a smart move on Wilder’s part to enforce his rematch, as he’s entitled to a 60-40 purse split for the third fight with Fury. That’s a payday of potentially $10-15 million, and it makes sense for Wilder to fight Fury again for that reason alone.
The fact that Wilder’s bank account will increase substantially will make him a genius no matter how bad the outcome. If Malignaggi can’t see that, it’s troubling.
The way Fury has slacked off and let himself go physically since his seventh-round knockout win over ‘The Bronze Bomber’ last year, you can’t rule out a victory for Wilder.
Fury’s physique looks like it’s aged ten years since 2020, and he might not capable of beating any quality heavyweight now.
He’s certainly looking a lot better in the workout clips that he’s posted on social media than how Fury is looking.
Wilder will be delusional or a genius after Fury 3
“He’s going to come off looking crazy if he gets destroyed, or he’ll come out looking brilliant. When you’re one step ahead of people you look smart, if you’re two steps ahead you look insane,” said Malignaggi to DAZN.
“If I had to not get Fury-AJ and I had to get some semi-finals towards Fury and AJ, it’s not so bad,” said Malignaggi to Betfred on Fury fighting Wilder and Joshua taking on Usyk.
“I really feel like Wilder is in denial, but at the same time, I love his self-belief, if that makes any sense. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but I can’t fault a fighter for having the ultra-self belief that he has.
It borders on the ridiculous the excuses that he made. But at the same time going back directly at Tyson Fury, it shows that he really believes in his heart that something legitimately was wrong.
“It’s not his fault and that he really believes he can beat this guy. As bordering on the ridiculous, even if I agree with it, what I can’t disagree is the self-belief of a champion,” said Malignaggi.
You can’t fault Wilder for wanting to try and avenge his loss to Fury, particularly given all the things that led to him losing to him a year ago. Wilder legitimately believes that his legs were tired from the heavy 45-lb costume that he wore for the ring walk.
We also know that Wilder was clubbed with a right hand from Fury behind his left ear in the third round that messed up his equilibrium for the remainder of the fight.
Also, Wilder wasn’t ready for Fury to come at him the way he did from the start of the fight. Fury fought completely different from the first Wilder fight in 2018 in which he was backing up the entire time.
Malignaggi picks Wilder over Fury
Deontay Wilder has that championship self-belief and I really believe that he’s going to go out on his shield,” said Malignaggi. “He’s not going to want to be stopped.
“I don’t agree with how he treated [coach] Mark Breland after his last fight, but at the same time, he lives it. Deontay doesn’t just speak it, he lives it.
“You got to give the guy credit for that, even if I disagree with the way he goes about things. I do believe Fury still beat him.
“I think Fury beats him, and I think Joshua is still favored over Usyk. Usyk is a little undersized, but Usyk is still a crafty guy. An Olympic gold medalist, and former cruiserweight unified champion.
“He’s going to be a crafty undersized heavyweight that can cause some problems for Joshua as well.
“In the end, if I had to pick, I think we still get Fury-AJ, but if they come off wins like this over two quality guys, I think it would build up even more anticipation for the Fury-AJ fight, as long as it happens after the next six months after these couple of fights.
“We don’t want it to marinate too much. As long as it happens within six months of these next two fights, I think it builds up more expectations and people will really look forward to it,” Malignaggi said of the Joshua vs. Fury mega-fight.
