Tyson Fury fears for Deontay Wilder, says he is 'shot to bits' ahead of Jai Opetaia fight

Tyson Fury has slammed former rival Deontay Wilder after it was confirmed that the 41-year-old “Bronze Bomber” will face Jai Opetaia on the undercard of Fury’s clash with Anthony Joshua on December 11.

Fury and Wilder shared three memorable battles. The pair fought to a draw in 2018 before Fury established his superiority rematch in 2020, winning emphatically in seven rounds. Their thrilling third encounter followed a year later.

Though Wilder, 45-4-1 (43 KOs), managed to drop Fury twice in that final installment, he was knocked out in 11 rounds and has struggled to recapture his best form since.

He did, however, rebound in April this year when he edged fellow veteran Derek Chisora, 42, over 12 grueling rounds in London.

Fury and Wilder have hardly seen eye-to-eye since their trilogy, with the American repeatedly accusing his former rival of foul play during their encounters.

Though Fury also returned to winning ways this year, scoring victories over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Mariusz Wach, one has to go back to 2022 – a sixth-round knockout of Dillian Whyte – for his most recent victory over world-class opposition.

In 2024, he lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk, though he maintains he deserved the decision in both bouts.

Wilder should be 'nowhere near a ring'

War-torn Chisora notwithstanding, Wilder has not defeated a top contender since stopping Luis Ortiz in 2019 and has lost one-sided bouts to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang since 2023.