Former four division world champion Roy Jones Jr. believes Tyson Fury had begun to break down Deontay Wilder in the very first round. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Wilder went down in the third and fifth, before Fury stopped him in the seventh round of their WBC heavyweight title rematch last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The first contest, in December of 2018, ended in a controversial twelve round split draw.
There is now a trilogy fight in play, as Wilder intends to exercise a contractual clause to force an immediate third fight.
Wilder not very happy with the stoppage, which happened when his corner threw in the towel.
"[Wilder] probably feels he [still had a chance] because he dropped Fury two times in the first fight but he was feeling much better in that fight because Fury wasn't fighting with a game plan, he was still learning him," Jones said to CBS Sports' State of Combat podcast.
"In the second fight, Fury had a great game plan and was executing it to a T! He was executing it to a T and there was nothing to do for Wilder but to go downhill. There was no uphill for him in that fight and anybody that thought he had a chance is crazy because Fury had broken him down from Round 1 and he was going downhill since then. If Wilder thought he had a chance, he was wrong and I'm sorry but that's just what the facts are."
With the victory, some have begun to call Fury an all-time great in the heavyweight division.
But Jones disagrees.
He doesn't view Wilder as the type of opponent to secure Fury that form or recognition - and he explains why - with a clear target on Wilder's long win streak.
"You can't call [Fury] an all-timer because the bully [Wilder] just hadn't been bullied yet," Jones said.
"The bully beat a lot of people, don't get me wrong. But if you look back at the names on [Wilder's] record, they don't add up to the names on Mikey Tyson's record. The only person that has a record that we knew anything about — and he never had a professional career and was a celebrated amateur, at best -- was [Luis] Ortiz. Ortiz was a good fighter but with his lack of pro experience, Wilder took him into the deep water last time and drowned him.
"That's the only real fighters I see on his record that you can say this guy is a real credible fighter because of his amateur career because he hasn't beaten anybody as a pro either. So when you look at it, Tyson Fury did take a bully that hadn't been beat yet and no one thought could be beat and he walked him down and beat him. Right now, he still has to beat a few more fighters to become one of the greats but he is a great fighter. I told Tyson Fury about 4-5 years ago that if you get yourself together and rededicate yourself, you could beat all these guys. That's what he's doing right now."