By William Lloyd: Tyson Fury touched down in the U.S on Saturday to ready himself for his trilogy match against former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder on October 9th in Las Vegas.
Conditioning-wise, Fury doesn’t look as bulked up or as solid physically as he was a year ago for the second fight with Wilder. The year and a half that Fury has had outside of the ring have led to considerable muscle atrophy.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) didn’t want to fight Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) again, but he’s been ordered by a U.S arbitrator.
It’s not an ideal situation for Fury because there’s very little interest from boxing fans in the trilogy match, and he feels he’s already beaten Wilder twice.
Fury, 32, must stay motivated and make sure that he wins again in flying colors to face Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight championship in early 2022.
📍 𝙇𝙖𝙨 𝙑𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙨, 𝙉𝙑 👑@Tyson_Fury has officially touched down stateside. 3 weeks to go until the final chapter of an epic trilogy is written.#FuryWilder3 | OCTOBER 9 | PPV pic.twitter.com/ggfvDaO3wp
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 19, 2021
Fury can’t afford distractions
“The big danger for Tyson Fury is he takes his eye off the ball,” said trainer Shane McGuigan to BT Sport Boxing. “He’s frustrated. He wanted the AJ fight, and it didn’t come about.
“Now he’s boxing a guy [Deontay Wilder] that everyone feels he beat twice. The last time it was convincingly, and the first time was a very controversial decision, and he doesn’t get up for it.
“He takes him lightly, takes his eye off the ball, and as Frank says, one punch in the heavyweight division, particularly with Deontay Wilder, can completely change a fight,” McGuigan said.
It had to have been difficult for Fury to get himself adequately motivated for this training camp, given that his hoped-for August undisputed clash with Anthony Joshua had been taken away from him by the U.S arbitrator.
The decision by the arbitrator that Fury must fight Wilder again effectively removed his $80 million paydays that he would have gotten against Joshua.
Fury will still make good money against Wilder on October 9th, but nowhere near what he would have received in a fight with Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
Considering what Fury has lost out on with the Joshua fight, there’s a chance of him being let down and not motivated enough to fight at 100% against Wilder.
If Fury is distracted and overconfident, Wilder could knock him out this time and force a fourth fight between them.
Wilder’s needs the confidence to win
“So that’s the big gamble for Tyson. Another gamble for Deontay Wilder is he’s going in there after an absolute beating, and he’s going in there with his confidence right down.
“He’s spent his whole life knocking guys out, and his last two fights [against Fury] have been a mauling. In the first one, he got outboxed.
“So he’s going in with a lack of confidence, but we’ll see what kind of character he has. I don’t think he can win the third fight, but he will give a better count of himself than he did in the second fight.
“I think he’ll probably be sharper with his legs, throwing more punches early and trying to maintain a bit of distance. He’s always trying to hit right hands to the head.
“He’s always trying to headhunt with Tyson Fury. If I were working, I would try and shoot right hands to the body and try and drop shots in.
“But I think the size, stature, confidence, and mental toughness is what’s going to prevail and also ability. Tyson can box and move and adapt.
“I don’t think Deontay Wilder can. I do think it’s going to be a more competitive fight, and I do think he’s always got that one punch that you’ve got to be aware of,” said McGuigan about Deontay.
It will be difficult, if not impossible, for Wilder to come into the October 9th fight with the self-belief that he can win.
With the way Fury beat him last year, Wilder’s dignity has been shredded completely.
As McGuigan says, Wilder remains a dangerous fighter because of his right-hand power, but if he can’t land a lucky punch, Fury will surely maul him a second time.