SugarHill Steward said he doesn't anticipate the same script playing out again should a third fight take place between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. (photo by Ryan Hafey)

“When you lose, you want to go back and correct some things. Deontay is a competitor. He lost the fight, so I’m sure he’s going to want to be better,” Steward told BoxingScene.com in an interview.

Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) dismantled the previously unbeaten Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) from pillar to post in a one-sided fight in their rematch. The British boxer came out of the corner from the beginning of the fight swinging and used his size to back down the smaller Wilder. The Alabaman fighter never appeared comfortable in the ring against Fury, who simply was the superior slugger. Fury won every round but one across all three judges’ scorecards.

Wilder is mostly one-dimensional with his knockout power and will have to introduce new wrinkles in his game to have a better chance in a potential third fight.

“I don't want to say I was surprised how ineffective Deontay was,” said Steward. “We were confident in our game plan. He saw something in Deontay that had those thoughts come to his head. The game plan was executed — to knock out the knockout artist. Tyson Fury is the bigger and stronger heavyweight, and he should fight like that.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com.