By Jim Calfa: Tyson Fury expects Deontay Wilder to emerge as his WBC mandatory when the smoke clears from the title eliminator bouts.
Wilder will fight Robert Helenius in a WBC semi-final heavyweight eliminator on October 15th on FOX Sports pay-per-view. If Wilder wins that fight, he’ll face Andy Ruiz Jr for the final WBC eliminator.
Although Ruiz Jr put in a strong showing last Sunday night, beating Luis Ortiz in the WBC’s other semi-final eliminator, Fury still believes Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) will be the last man standing when it’s all said and done.
“Looks like I’ll be fighting Wilder for the fourth time,” said Tyson Fury on social media, reacting to the WBC title eliminator setup.
It’s possible that Wilder could be the guy that winds up as the WBC mandatory, but it remains to be seen if Fury will still hold the title by the time he finishes with Helenius and Ruiz Jr.
Wilder has to two formidable opponents he must beat in Helenius and Ruiz before he can punch his ticket for a fourth fight against Fury. The 6’7″ Wilder will need to fight a lot better against those two fighters than he did Fury if he hopes to win.
Fury could potentially face the dangerous former unified champion Anthony Joshua next in November or December, and it’s not a given that he will win that fight.
Just because Joshua struggled with the slick boxing style of Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t mean he’ll have the same issues against Fury, who is more of a straight up and down stationary fighter.
It’s fair to say that Joshua will have a lot easier time landing his power shots on Fury than he did Usyk.
Fury’s fighting style has morphed over the two years, going from being a slick mover to kind of a regular run-of-the-mill mauler that you normally see from second-tier journeymen fighters.
That style worked for Fury against Otto Wallin and Wilder, but it might not be effective against Joshua, who has the muscle & the inside game to make him pay if he tries to maul him.
Joshua’s uppercuts in close and the way he’s able to land powerful right hands while being held make him especially dangerous for a mauler like Fury.
If Fury beats Joshua, he’ll likely face Usyk for the undisputed championship in February or March. That’s another tough fight for Fury.
