Tyson Fury owns the WBC heavyweight title, the only championship the brash Brit didn’t win when he upset Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.
Deontay Wilder won’t recognize Fury as the WBC champion, however, until they fight a third time. Wilder views their third fight as his opportunity to prove February 22 was an anomalous night in his career, not indisputable proof Fury is superior to him.
Wilder explained his take on the undefeated Fury’s championship reign during the newest episode of “The PBC Podcast,” which debuted Wednesday on premierboxingchampions.com.
“We only can get stronger, learn from a lot of situations,” Wilder told co-hosts Kenneth Bouhairie and Mike Rosenthal. “I’m gonna learn from this situation and get better and better. It’s not over, you know. In my eyes, I don’t see Fury as a champion. It’s still going. You know, he ain’t the champion yet. We’ve still got one more fight left. You know, and at the end of the day, I’m happy, you know, my family’s happy, I’m recovering, and I’m looking forward to giving the world the best of Deontay Wilder.”
England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) owes Alabama’s Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) a third fight as part of a two-bout agreement they made last year.
They were supposed to fight again July 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it has been pushed back tentatively to October 3 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilder also underwent surgery recently to repair a torn left biceps, which probably would’ve delayed their third meeting even if the coronavirus crisis hadn’t shut down the boxing business last month.
An aggressive, physical Fury overwhelmed Wilder in their rematch seven weeks ago at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The 6-feet-9, 273-pound Fury floored Wilder twice – once with a right hand to his head in the third round, and again with a left to Wilder’s body in the fifth round. The 6-feet-7, 231-pound Wilder withstood those knockdowns, but his assistant trainer, Mark Breland, threw in the towel during the seventh round, when Wilder was backed into a neutral corner, taking unanswered punches.
Wilder was way behind on all three scorecards when referee Kenny Bayless stopped their fight (59-52, 59-52, 58-53).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.