There can be no excuses for Deontay Wilder if he loses in his eighth defence of the WBC heavyweight strap after revealing that he has been studying his next opponent for years.
The 33-year-old takes on Britain’s Tyson Fury on December 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles seeking to claim the most impressive scalp of his career just months after slaying the bogeyman of the division, Luis Ortiz, in a thrilling slugfest.
Wilder survived the most thorough examination of his championship ability against the Cuban, battling back from the brink of defeat in the seventh round to knock Ortiz out in the 10th in a victory that saw his stock soar across the heavyweight landscape.
Speaking exclusively to BTSport.com, the Alabama fighter suggested his war against Ortiz had only served to better him as a boxer in anticipation for a mouth-watering clash against the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury.
"My experience level is above all the rest,” Wilder said.
"The things I have seen, the places I have been to fight in different territories, putting myself in uncomfortable positions.
"I've seen so many different styles. I can pick a style easily. A true champion always knows how to adjust in the ring with anyone, that is a trait you learn coming on up through against other fighters and other styles. That's what makes me feel that this is my time."
But in Tyson Fury, Wilder faces arguably the only other heavyweight less orthodox than himself: a fighter once compared to Muhammad Ali by former undisputed champion Lennox Lewis.
"He’s six-foot-nine and quick," Lewis said.
"He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, that’s what boxing is all about."
Such high praise should not surprise many who witnessed Fury’s famous win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 as he outboxed and outfoxed the 10-year reigning unified champion to win the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and lineal titles in a lop-sided decision.
But Wilder will know all about that performance, confessing to keeping a close eye on the dancing giant from the other side of the pond.
"I've been on Fury for a while now, just him being among the heavyweights," Wilder continued.
"His style hasn't changed. He's still been the same Fury with the same style.
"His mindset may be a little bit different because of what he has been through and what he has overcome and where he is now. But as far as his style, he's still the same.
"I'm a much faster guy when it comes to the awkward style that we possess. We both have different, awkward styles. We're both tall, that is something we have in common.
"But my speed is by far, way faster than he is."
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