Deontay Wilder: record, next fight and profile →
One second. The difference was one second. Tyson Fury, inexplicably behind on one card, well ahead on another and narrowly ahead on the last, had a decision win within reach. He’d survived a ninth round knockout where he didn’t seem all that hurt.
Bernard Hopkins doesn’t consider Tyson Fury the best active heavyweight in boxing. The former middleweight and light heavyweight champion is awed, however, by Fury’s incredible ability to promote himself. In fact, Hopkins has seen only one better salesman in boxing history, the incomparable Muhammad Ali.
Deontay Wilder doesn’t buy Tyson Fury’s confidence. The way Wilder views it, if Fury truly believed he is as better than Wilder as he says, the lineal heavyweight champion wouldn’t have made so many changes while preparing for their rematch Saturday night in Las Vegas. Most notably, Fury fired trainer Ben Davison in December and replaced him with Javan Steward, the late Emanuel Steward’s nephew.
Deontay Wilder believes he only showcased half of his full potential the first time he met Tyson Fury in 2018 when he battled his way to a highly disputed split decision draw. “I was anxious and overly excited in the first fight. It wasn’t me. It was 50 percent. This time it’s going to be all me, and people can expect a knockout in devastating fashion and nothing but greatness,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “I love to be who I am and the mindset that I have. I can turn boxing on or off as needed.”
LAS VEGAS – Frank Warren knows Tyson Fury is more than capable of getting up if Deontay Wilder knocks him down Saturday night. Fury’s co-promoter watched his fighter overcome two knockdowns during their first fight in December 2018 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Warren was as surprised as anyone that Fury withstood Wilder’s devastating right-left combination early in the 12th round, but Fury’s commendable comeback in the final two minutes of their controversial split draw makes the veteran promoter confident Fury can take Wilder’s power in their 12-round rematch Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
For someone who prides himself on being unpredictable, Tyson Fury is convinced he has already figured out his upcoming opponent. Of course, it helps that he’s already had a clean look at Deontay Wilder, who he faces this weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (Saturday, Pay-Per-View, 9:00pm ET). Their heavyweight title fight rematch takes place nearly 15 months after their first fight, which ended in a 12-round draw.
LAS VEGAS – After spending 12 rounds in the ring against Tyson Fury, Otto Wallin expects Fury to defeat Deontay Wilder in their rematch. Wallin isn’t convinced Fury will aggressively go after Wilder, as Fury repeatedly has predicted. The lineal heavyweight champion is more likely, according to Wallin, to out-box Wilder the way Wallin thinks he did during their first fight.
LAS VEGAS – Tyson Fury hasn’t noticed any noteworthy improvement in Deontay Wilder since their first fight. The unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion knocked out Dominic Breazeale in the first round and finished off Luis Ortiz in the seventh round in his two fights since his controversial draw with Fury. England’s Fury still noticed plenty of flaws in Wilder’s performances, even in his two-minute, 17-second knockout of Breazeale on May 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Like essentially everyone who has seen it, Deontay Wilder still can’t understand how Tyson Fury got up in the 12th round of their fight. Once Wilder drilled the resilient Brit with a right-left combination that dumped him flat on his back, Wilder walked away certain that he had finished off Fury. Somehow, the lineal heavyweight champion picked himself off the canvas after referee Jack Reiss’ count reached five and made it back to his feet before Reiss could count to 10.
Jay Deas appreciates the admiration most boxing fans have for Deontay Wilder’s pulverizing power. Wilder’s co-trainer and co-manager just wishes they’d better appreciate what Wilder does to set up those devastating knockout shots he lands. Deas has seen considerable improvement in Wilder, development Deas believes has gone unnoticed among many boxing observers because they’re preoccupied with his highlight-reel knockouts.