By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder will be taking advantage of his new coach “genius” Malik Scott’s game plan to send Tyson Fury crashing down in his first career defeat next month on July 24th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Malik has been working with former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) for months to repair the deficiencies in his game that the giant 6’9″ Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) capitalized a year ago in their rematch.
We’ve seen Wilder using a lot of movement in his mitt workouts with Scott, and it seems that he’s going to make sure that Fury doesn’t maul him in close. In a nutshell, Fury’s only chance of winning is if he can get on the inside and mug Wilder like last time.
If Fury can get past Wilder’s right-hand power shots, it could be game over for the ‘Bronze Bomber.’ In other words, we’ll see a repeat of last year’s fight with Fury clubbing Wilder with shots on the inside, and not letting him escape by leaning on him with his 270+ lb frame.
One obvious area that coach Malik is working on with Deontay was the way that he was easily backed up by Fury in both fights. Wilder foolishly backed straight up each time Fury came forward, and this enabled him to storm forward to land shots.
Fury didn’t have to worry about Wilder’s dangerous punching power when he was backing up, and that made it easier for him to walk him down to get in close.
Wilder was totally ineffective on the inside, unable to generate power, and utterly vulnerable to Fury’s jackhammer blows that he repeatedly hit him with.
“Genius” Malik Scott has a plan for Deontay
“He’s a genius in his mind, he knows what to do, but he just didn’t have the athletic body to be able to perform what’s in his head,” said Wilder to Premier Boxing Champions in talking about his trainer Malik Scott
“Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder set for July 24th in Las Vegas,” said Max Kellerman on Max on Boxing. “Neither has fought since Fury stopped Wilder back in February 2020 in their second fight.
“So technically, this is an immediate rematch, but it doesn’t seem that way. You can’t call it a rubber match because it’s not like Wilder has won yet.
“Look, people are disappointed this fight got made, everyone wanted to see Fury and Joshua. When Wilder won his arbitration case, I figured there’d be step aside money for Wilder. Top Rank didn’t want to pay it, no one wanted to pay it and so we’re getting Fury – Wilder 3,” said Kellerman.
Wilder isn’t saying what Malik’s game plan is for the third fight with Fury, but it seems obvious that he’s going to make sure he’s on the move. Deontay has got to move, set his feet, then unleash his right hand down the pipe on the chin of Fury.
Where Wilder had problems in his two fights with Fury is when he would miss one of his shots.
Fury was able to take advantage of Wilder’s missing by countering him in close and then continuing to attack him as he backed away.
It was hard for Wilder to get free of Fury when he’d miss because there was not only the countering that he had to deal, but also the grappling. Fury was like superglue in close, forcing Wilder to peel him off of like sticky flypaper.
Fury with 50-lb weight advantage
“Well, look, Fury should be an enormous favorite here,” Kellerman continued. “He is the larger man, the better boxer and he totally dominated Wilder last time out, but Deontay Wilder, pound-for-pound, think about this, is a great fighter.
“He gives up 50 pounds in this division. If they were the same size, would you pick Tyson Fury? They’re not, I understand that, but Wilder has an enormous heart, and a terrifying right hand.
“Yes, I’m picking Fury rather easily, but let’s not pretend this won’t be dramatic. Wilder can put anyone’s lights out at any moment,” said Kellerman.
It goes without saying that Wilder would beat the brakes of Fury if he weighed 270+ lbs like him. If the two fighters weighed the same, Wilder’s punches would be more powerful and Fury wouldn’t be able to use his weight to tire him out.
Fury’s weight advantage is ONLY an asset for him if you allow him to get in close, lean on you, and maul the way he does. If you stay on the move and don’t allow Fury to use his bulk, his weight works against him.
Wilder will need to make sure that he never backs up against the ropes because that would enable Fury to come forward and trap him by holding & hitting and doing a lot of leaning.
At 231 lbs, Wilder isn’t big enough to let Fury get in close because he’s going to rough him up if he’s able to do that. This is common knowledge in the heavyweight division.
You never allow a much heavier fighter to get on the inside because if you do, they’re going to use that size to their advantage the way Fury did in his rematch with Deontay.
Frampton: If Wilder lands, it could be lights out
“Fury-Wilder again, it’s not a certainty because Fury won the fight in my opinion and he definitely won the second fight convincingly,” said Carl Frampton to BT Sport Boxing on the Fury vs. Wilder trilogy match.
“People think this is a given that he [Fury] beats Wilder again. No way. I think Wilder is probably the biggest puncher in heavyweight boxing right now, possibly heavyweight boxing ever.
“If he lands, it could be lights out. So I hope there’s no complacency from Tyson,” said Frampton.
Without question, if Wilder lands one of his perfectly placed right hands on Fury’s head, he’s going to be out of it. Fury is a big guy, but his chin is just as vulnerable as other heavyweights and perhaps even more.
Fury protects his weak chin by using a lot of upper body movement to prevent his opponents from landing with full force.
What ultimately happens if Fury’s opponents decrease the power on their shots to improve their accuracy.
Once they do that, they’re playing into Fury’s hands because then he’s got them throwing with the same weak power that he possesses.
You’re not going to beatFury hitting him with weak shots, and you’re not going to outbox him.