By Huck Allen: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury worries that he may have ended the career of Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder with his knockout of the former champ last Saturday night.
Fury says Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) took a lot of punishment during the fight, and the final knockout blow that he landed in the eleventh round could have ended the Bronze Bomber’s career.
The way that Wilder fell over on the canvas, he looked seriously hurt in a way that could prove problematic for him to come back to fight on the same level as he once did.
As it was, Wilder didn’t look nearly as good last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as he had two years ago when scoring knockouts of Luis Ortiz and Dominic Breazeale.
Wilder and Fury hit the deck during the contest, but the ‘Gypsy King’ prevailed with his better conditioning in stopping Deontay in the 11th round.
Fury hopes Wilder is OK
“I have not seen the actual knockout, but I felt it,” said Fury on his stoppage of Wilder in the 11th round. “I felt he was getting tired and fatigued, and I hit him solidly with a crunching right hook right in the side of the temple. Shots like that end careers.
“I just hope he is OK. He took a lot of punishment. We will see what he can do in the future.”
After the contest, the former WBC champion Wilder was taken to a nearby hospital to be examined to ensure that he was OK.
Of course, we won’t know if Wilder will ever be the same after this knockout until he gets back in the ring to resume his career next year
If Wilder chooses to continue fighting, he’s going to need to take it slowly by someone who isn’t dangerous if he wants to make sure he’s all there.
It’s going to be hard for the 35-year-old Wilder, as he’s not a young heavyweight, and he may find it difficult to rebound from this crushing defeat.
Taking on a formidable opponent after what he went through last Saturday night against Fury would be a disastrous move for the 6’7″ Wilder.
If Wilder can take on a few chinny journeymen fighters that will stand directly in front of him, he can get his confidence back and ensure his punch resistance is still intact.
It’s not just this knockout of Wilder that could negatively impact his career.
The last beat down the Alabama native took in his seventh round knockout loss to Fury in February 2020 was almost as bad.
Wilder took a lot of punishment in that fight and was lucky that his ex-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the seventh round to save him.
Wilder’s weight slowed him down
Deontay’s stamina was arguably the worst it’s ever been, as he seemed exhausted by the third round. More than anything, Wilder’s poor stamina played a significant part in him losing the fight to Fury.
It isn’t easy to know if Wilder’s decision to bulk up to 238 lbs was the reason for his drop-off in stamina. In Wilder’s previous fight, he had bulked up from 219 lbs to 231 to face Fury in 2020, and he looked slower, less agile, and tired.
Wilder’s questionable decision to add even more weight for the trilogy with Fury last Saturday may have inadvertently hurt his chances of winning the fight.
In sports that entail a lot of aerobic activity, it’s not a good idea for an athlete to bulk up and put a massive strain on their cardiovascular system, as Wilder did by going from 219 lbs to 238 within two years.
Sometimes ‘more’ isn’t better when adding weight for a fighter to compete in boxing. It’s a rare fighter that can add 19 lbs to their frame in less than two years and compete without taking a severe hit with their conditioning.
Bulking up was the wrong move
Wilder didn’t seem to understand what he was doing to his cardiovascular system in choosing to bulk up from 219 to 238, which cost him.
Deontay would have been better off staying at 219 lbs for both of his last two fights with Fury, as he would have more speed, agility and he wouldn’t have tired so quickly.
Another problem with the weight that Wilder packed on recently was the way it was distributed, and he added virtually all the new muscle weight to his upper body rather than his spindly legs.
The whole reason for Wilder to bulk up is so that Fury wouldn’t be able to use his vast 270+ lb size to lean on him to wear him down in the clinches.
Unfortunately, the weight that Wilder added to his upper body did nothing for his toothpick legs, which could not hold up Fury’s weight during the many clinches the British fighter initiated in the last two fights.
The added weight that Wilder put on in his upper body made it even harder for him to deal with being leaned on by the 277-lb Fury last Saturday.
Not only did Wilder’s frail legs have to carry his added bulked-up weight of 238, but also they had to hold Fury up each time he would initiate a clinch.
Fury was putting all his weight on Wilder when he would hold him, and that took a lot out of him almost immediately.
Fury calls Wilder a “Sore loser”
“I thought that we fought out there and that all the allegations that he made towards me during the build-up to this fight, and we fought like two warriors in there,” said Fury.
“I went over to shake his hand and say ‘Well done,’ and he was like ‘No, I don’t respect you.’ I was like, ‘How can you say I cheated when you know in your own heart and your whole team knows it that you just got beat fair and square.
“He’s just a sore loser in boxing. I’m sure he’s not the first one, but he won’t be the last one. But I’ve acted like a gentleman throughout my whole career, and that’s all I can do as a man,” said Fury.
It’s unreasonable for Fury to have thought that Wilder would forget the grievances he had with him over their last fight.
If Wilder truly believes that Fury cheated with his gloves, of course, he would still be upset with him. It’s not about Wilder being a “sore loser,” and it’s more about him feeling cheated in a competition and put in a position where he could have been seriously hurt.