Former two division world champion David Haye is expected Deontay Wilder to come out much better in the expected rematch with Tyson Fury.
The rematch with Fury is slated for February 2020 - if Wilder wins his upcoming voluntary defense of the WBC heavyweight title on November 23, in a rematch with Luis Ortiz at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Wilder and Fury fought to a controversial twelve round split draw in December 2018 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It was the third bout of Fury's comeback and many had expected him to get knocked out. And it nearly happened in the twelfth and final round, when Fury was dropped hard and appeared to be out cold - but still beat the count and finished out the bout.
Haye, who used Wilder as a sparring partner, is expecting the unbeaten puncher and Fury to leave nothing to chance.
“I don’t think Wilder rated Fury that much.... I don’t think. And I think he underestimated him. I know Fury didn’t underestimate Wilder, but there’s arguments why both fighters can win the rematch. I’m really excited. I don’t think there’s that many heavyweights that are unbeaten at the moment. I think it’s a pure coincidence," Haye explained to BT Sport.
“It can go one of two ways. Fury could fine tune his skills, because he’d been out of the game for so long after the Klitschko fight. A lot of people are saying he’s going to be a lot better now than he was for that fight. The same thing can be said for Deontay Wilder. He’s had a couple of fights.
“[Wilder's] fight against Dominic Breazeale was an absolute cracker of a right hand. I’ve never seen a heavyweight just walk across the ring and put someone’s lights out that quick and that furiously. He has a rematch with Ortiz, which is an interesting fight - so I think both fighters are going to be way better for their rematch. Both of them are going to be on form.”