Al Bernstein Breaks Down Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury

By Ryan Burton

A couple of weeks ago Hall of Fame sportscaster Al Bernstein was at the 6th annual Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  Fighters such as Shane Mosley, Kevin Kelley and Laila Ali were part of the new class.

While on the red carpet, Bernstein spoke to BoxingScene.com and other members of the media about the potential Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury pay-per-view showdown. Dates in November and December are being looked at for the fight with Las Vegas the leading candidate to serve as the host.

If the fight comes to fruition, it will be distributed by Showtime Pay-Per-View and Bernstein will be part of the broadcast team calling the action.

The biggest question mark in the fight is Fury.  The 30-year-old ended a two and a half year layoff in June from a drug suspension with a 4th round knockout of the unheralded Sefer Seferi and followed that up with a points victory over Francesco Pianeta on August 18th.

Many insiders consider Fury to be a serious underdog because of his inactivity and lack of high level competition in his most recent fights.

"Obviously it was a fight he had to win or he isn't going to get the Wilder fight. It was a workmanlike effort. He wasn't in against outrageously great competition but I think the way he fought was probably beneficial to him. He got rounds in and he looked like his skill set was up from the last fight," said Berstein.

"I think the issue would be for Fury is are these two fights enough for him to get back to the level where he was at? He is going to need to get to that level because he will need to be at that level to be able to compete with Wilder."

Talks for a fight between Wilder, who holds the WBC title and WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO champion Anthony Joshua recently fizzled out for a variety of reasons.  Wilder begrudgingly agreed to a purse that he believed was well below market value to try to make the fight happen but it ultimately wasn't enough to make the fight come to fruition.

Would a victory over Fury put Wilder on even terms or even push him past Joshua in the next round of negotiations?

"I don't know about (it making him) bigger. They are both international names and Fury is certainly an international name and the three of them are certainly the biggest names in the heavyweight division," Bernstein told BoxingScene.com.

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