By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Frank Warren envisions Tyson Fury beating Deontay Wilder even easier in their rematch than in their first fight.
England’s Fury and Alabama’s Wilder battled to a controversial split draw December 1, but Warren considers Fury the winner of that 12-round bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Now that Fury has remained in boxing shape between bouts, Warren can’t see why a camp focused on training, not losing weight, won’t prepare Fury to defeat Wilder convincingly in their second fight.
The 30-year-old Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs), who’s touted as the lineal heavyweight champion, and the 33-year-old Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs), the WBC champ, will square off again early in 2020 if they win their fights in the fall.
“I think Tyson’s got his number, I really do,” Warren told BoxingScene.com following Fury’s second-round stoppage of Tom Schwarz on Saturday night. “Deontay can’t out-box him. We’ve seen that. He won’t out-box him. He’s probably the hardest-punching heavyweight in the last 25 years. If he catches you, as he did catch Tyson, you’re in trouble. He’s a phenomenal puncher. I always say a good boxer will always beat a big puncher.
“Tyson can bang himself. He can whack himself. You know, the last round, when he got off the floor, he had Deontay in a bit of trouble. He wasn’t having it all go his own way. So, I think that level playing field, he’s gonna have another fight under his belt, he’s gonna be, I think, 50 percent better than he was when he fought Deontay.”
Fury will return to the ring September 21 or October 5. His opponent hasn’t been chosen for a fight that could be held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Wilder is headed for a rematch with Luis Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC), whom Wilder beat by 10th-round technical knockout in March 2018, either in October or November.
Whomever Fury fights, Warren won’t worry that he’ll get knocked off before reaching a lucrative rematch with Wilder.
“He’s very athletic, he’s got phenomenal footwork, he’s got great hand-eye coordination,” Warren said. “He’s a great defensive boxer, he’s a good offensive fighter. He’s got the whole package. I just think whoever he’s in there with, they’re gonna struggle, whoever it is. And if he’s a hundred percent, and he’s where he should be, then there’s no doubt about it, in my mind, that he’ll do a job on him.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.