Category: Wilder vs. Fury II

Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury play their mind-game cards in Vegas

Deontay Wilder and Tyson shoved each other and played mind games at the final news conference but what happens on Saturday will be real.

LAS VEGAS – Deontay Wilder looks at Tyson Fury and sees a haunted man.

But it was hard to tell Wednesday whether Wilder saw anything more than a pair of sunglasses.

Fury wore the dark shades throughout a news conference that was often contentious and sometimes contrived. It began with Wilder shoving Fury across the stage. Fury shoved back. Then, there was the inevitable trash talk. It went on, ad nauseam.

At times, the two heavyweights appeared to be genuinely angry at each other, just three days before their rematch Saturday night on ESPN/Fox pay-per-view at the MGM Grand.

“I brought you back from cocaine,’’ Wilder yelled in reference to Fury’s self-destructive lifestyle after his upset of Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.

Fury wouldn’t let that one go without a counter.

“This time, I’m going to cut him,’’ Fury said in an edgy tone in a reference to the deep wound he suffered above his right eye in a decision over Otto Wallin in September. “We’ll see how you deal with it. You’re a bully fighter. And you know what happens to bullies when you challenge them. A bully falls every time.’’

The noisy give-and-take ended peacefully when promoter Bob Arum, seated near the stage, ordered: “No face-off, no face-off.’’

Enough said. Plenty had already been said before the news conference when Wilder met with a group of reporters.

“I don’t believe anything Fury says,’’ Wilder said not long before the shove. “I think he is just trying to butter me up and use a lot of mind games. He did that in the first fight to try and steal rounds, so we were lucky that we had experienced judges that weren’t influenced by that.

“I am not concerned with what I says, I am more focused on what he does. I am a man of action.”

That action, Wilder says, was exemplified by his two knockdowns of Fury, first in the ninth round and again in the 12th, during their controversial draw 15 months ago at Los Angeles Staples Center. Fury got up both times, a fact that he says gives him an advantage. Fury says he knows he can endure Wilder’s power. But the memory of those knockdowns, especially in the 12th, will be Fury’s undoing, Wilder says.

“I think he’s got a lot of concerns, things that he’s not talking about and we don’t know about,’’ he said. “But that’s what you got to do. There’s lots of secrets. That’s just the way it is.’’

But there’s no secret about what happened in the first fight.

“Round 12 has been living in his head since Day One,’’ Wilder said. “That’s why he ran away from the rematch, you know what I’m saying. So, Round 12 has been living in his head for a while. He goes into the second fight with that always living in his mind. Always, always.

“If he says different, then he’s lying.’’

10 things that make Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II special

Here are 10 reasons the Deontay Wilder-Tyson rematch on Saturday in Las Vegas is special.

Fans are excited about the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch Saturday in Las Vegas for many reasons.

One is that the fight will determine the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, with apologies to the recently knocked out Anthony Joshua. The winner at the MGM Grand Garden Arena can legitimately claim to be the baddest man on the planet.

Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) rebounded from the 2018 draw with Fury by eviscerating Dominic Breazeale and then Luis Ortiz to stake a solid claim as the top heavyweight. Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), who many believe deserved the victory in his first fight with Wilder, defeated Tom Schwarz and then Otto Wallin after the draw.

That set up one of the most-compelling heavyweight fights in recent years, one that seems to be 50-50 on paper.

Here are 10 reasons this matchup is special.

 

ZEROES IN THE LOSS COLUMN

OK, the fighters don’t have perfect records like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier did going into their classic first fight. They are undefeated, though, with only a draw from their first fight marring their ledgers. They are a combined 71-0-2. Think about that: 73 fights, no losses. And it’s not as if they’ve avoided the better heavyweights of today. They haven’t. Wilder’s defining victories have come against talented Cuban Luis Ortiz. Fury stunned the world by dominating Wladimir Klitschko to win the heavyweight championship in 2015. The only problem? One of them is very likely to get that first loss on Saturday.

 

THE RIVALRY

Fans love rivalries. Mention Ali-Frazier, Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward or Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera to a boxing aficionado and he or she will respond with a sigh and a broad smile, so riveting were these series of fights. We enjoyed Wilder-Fury I, mostly because of the late knockdowns – one in the ninth, the big one in the 12th – and Fury’s surprising ability to survive them. The controversial split-decision draw only added to the dramatic nature of the first installment. Indeed, Act I of Wilder vs. Fury was compelling in the end. And when fans enjoy Act I, they want to see Act II … and possibly Act III, which is in the contract. Stay tuned.

 

CONTROVERSY

Fury fans are still angry over the decision in the first fight. Aside from the rounds in which Fury went down, they argue, he controlled almost every moment of the fight. A draw? BS. It’s no wonder that Fury says he can’t win a decision in the U.S. Wilder fans don’t accept that. With the two 10-8 rounds, Wilder had to have won only three of the remaining 10 rounds to earn a draw. To suggest that notion is outrageous is … well, outrageous. After all, in a number of rounds, neither fighter did much of anything. Several certainly could’ve gone either way.  A draw? Yes, that was reasonable. Here’s the bottom line: Wilder and Fury have some unfinished business.

 

FURY’S SKILL SET

Sometimes lost amid Fury’s colorful (sometimes too colorful) personality and giant stature is the fact the man is a tremendous athlete with an unusual skill set and boxing IQ. That’s not to say he’s the next coming of Floyd Mayweather. That wouldn’t be a fair comparison. However, for a man who is a towering 6 feet, 9 inches – the same height as LeBron James – he moves and boxes remarkably well. No one could do to Wladimir Klitschko what Fury did in 2015. He was brilliant. And he did outbox Wilder for most of their fight. Of course, he got caught by some big punches in the end. We’ll see whether the master boxer can make adjustments to avoid danger this time.

 

WILDER’S POWER

The single most-compelling thing in boxing is the right hand of Deontay Wilder, who has stopped all but one of the opponents he has faced — Fury. His one-punch knockouts of Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz since the first Fury fight have been nothing short of breathtaking. Where does the power come from? Only God knows. And unfortunately for Fury and future opponents, as Teddy Atlas has pointed out, Wilder seems to have polished the delivery system for his missile. Breazeale and Ortiz went down as if they had been shot, not punched. It’s no wonder that Wilder has the highest knockout percentage (95) in history.

 

50-50 ON PAPER

The ideal fight is one that’s difficult to predict. Wilder-Fury II certainly falls into that category. Most observers believe strongly that one of two things will happen on Saturday night: Either Wilder will continue his run of knockouts by stopping Fury, or Fury, the superior boxer, will do what he did most of the first fight but this time emerge with a victory on the scorecards. And it’s nearly impossible to say which scenario is more likely. That’s why, according to BetMGM, Wilder-Fury II is essentially a tossup. That’s how every fight should be, right?

 

INTERNATIONAL NATURE

The Wilder-Fury fight would be a big event regardless of the fighters’ home nations. The fact one is American and the other British only makes it bigger, an international event that underscores that fact that boxing has no borders. Of course, this is the new norm for the sport. American heavyweights once ruled the division with an iron fist. However, since the arrival of Lennox Lewis, important U.S. vs. U.K. heavyweight matchups are common. Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. comprise another recent heavyweight series. Many people are saying this is the biggest heavyweight fight in the U.S. since Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002 in Memphis. Sounds right.

 

THE FIGHTERS’ PERSONALITIES

Promoter Bob Arum compared Fury to Ali in terms of his ability to promote a fight. That’s a hell of a compliment. And it’s spot on. Fury’s willingness to talk about the battles with his own demons and sense of humor – mixed with occasional crude comments – have resonated with fans worldwide. Meanwhile, Wilder is no shrinking violent. He, too, is open about his story – including the illness of his daughter – and can be lighthearted. He also is unusually accessible, giving interviews to almost anyone who asks for them. They’re both fun to be around. And they certainly have done their parts to sell  the fight to the public.

 

THEIR AGES

The fighters are neither on the rise nor in decline; they’re in their primes. Wilder is 34 and Fury is 31, which is young for heavyweights these days. This shouldn’t be underappreciated. Too many big fights feature an “A” side who uses his leverage to gain some sort of advantage over the “B” side, mostly at lower weights. That isn’t the case with Wilder-Fury II. They are both peaking, both fit, both determined to seal their legacies as two of the best heavyweights of this era. These are the ingredients of a special matchup.

 

THE STAKES

Wilder will be defending his portion of the heavyweight championship, which is important to the fighters and those who make money from titles. This one is bigger than that. As we stated earlier, this fight will likely determine the No. 1 heavyweight in the world and greatly enhance the legacy of the winner. It will also lead either to a lucrative third fight in the series or a massive showdown with Anthony Joshua to remove any doubt whatsoever about who is the king of boxing. Yes, this fight is a big deal by boxing standards.

Read more:

The Boxing Junkie Analysis: Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II: All officials will be American

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury get physical at news conference

Video: Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury get physical at news conference

The lead up to the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch had been tame until they shoved each other at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday.

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The lead up to the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight rematch had been tame … until Wednesday.

Wilder and Fury, meeting on stage at the final news conference before they fight Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, immediately stood nose to nose after they were introduced to the crowd on hand as host Joe Tessitore waited to ask them questions.

They had talked trash with their faces inches apart — if that — for several minutes when Fury bumped Wilder with his body and pushed him back bit. Wilder responded by shoving Fury backward, after which Fury responded in kind.

At that point, members of the fighters’ teams and security personnel jumped between them to prevent further contact as they continued to say with great conviction what they planned to do to each other on Saturday.

Was it genuine? Was it staged to sell the fight? The news conference was shown live on ESPN2, after all.

The only thing we know: It was dramatic.

 

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II: All officials will be American

Veteran Kenny Bayless got the refereeing assignment for the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

LAS VEGAS — An All-American panel of judges and an American judge will work the heavyweight rematch featuring the U.K.’s Tyson Fury and American Deontay Wilder Saturday night on ESPN/Fox pay-per-view at the MGM Grand.

Veteran Kenny Bayless got the refereeing assignment from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, it was announced Wednesday.

The Nevada commission also announced that Glenn Feldman of Connecticut, Dave Moretti of Nevada and Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey will judge the rematch of a controversial draw on Dec. 1, 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

Fury’s camp did not ask the Commission to assign a U.K. judge.

“No problem,’’ Fury said. “The judge from the U.K. robbed me in the first one.’’

Phil Edwards, of the U.K., scored the first fight a draw, 113-113. He scored seven rounds in favor of Fury. But Wilder’s two knockdowns of Fury, first in the ninth and again in the. 12th, resulted in a draw on Edwards’ card.

Judge Robert Tapper of Canada had 114-112 for Fury. The third judge, Alejandro Rochin, had it 115-111 for Wilder.

“Kenny is a great referee,’’ Wilder said after the assignments were announced. “He has experience. I even like his facial gestures.’’

The Boxing Junkie Analysis: Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II

Boxing Junkie’s stalwart analyst Sean Nam breaks down the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch.

The hype is nearly over. Let the fight begin.

The rematch between heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will take place Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

At stake is Wilder’s WBC trinket and a real claim for the winner to be regarded as the top fighter in the division. Anthony Joshua, long the lodestar of the division, will be the odd man out. At least for one night.

With Super Bowl-level promotion backing the event, a joint pay-per-view exercise between rivals Top Rank/ESPN and Premier Boxing Champions/Fox will test whether there is any legitimacy to boxing’s current financial upswing.

And the fight itself? It’s an intriguing head scratcher. Fury on points? Or Wilder by violent KO? A draw, the outcome in the first bout, is highly unlikely. That’s the only safe bet going into this rematch.

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Deontay Wilder: ‘The heavyweight division is booming’

Deontay Wilder, who defends his title in a rematch with Tyson Fury Saturday, said the heavyweight division has emerged from a “dark hole.”

LAS VEGAS – Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury don’t agree on too much. After all, they won’t be practicing diplomacy Saturday night in a long-awaited heavyweight rematch on ESPN/Fox pay-per-view at the MGM Grand.

But they do agree that the heavyweight division is in the middle of a revival that each believes will reach new heights.

“The heavyweight division is in a great direction, a magnificent direction,’’ Wilder told reporters Tuesday after arriving at the MGM Grand to a roaring crowd gathered in the hotel lobby. “I can remember when the heavyweight division was in, like, a dark hole, a dark tunnel.

“We had dominant champions, but nobody knew who they were, especially here in America.’’

Late boxing journalist Bert Sugar remembered when the heavyweight champion couldn’t walk down the street without being mobbed. Everybody knew him. Then, Sugar said, the division fell into such decline that the heavyweight champ wouldn’t have been recognized in a police lineup.

Wilder and Fury believe they have restored some of the division’s celebrity.

“I knew it was going to be a hard task for me, especially being the only heavyweight champion from here, from America,’’ Wilder said. “But I’m up for it. I think a lot of people don’t appreciate, or didn’t, appreciate it. But over time, they came along. Even the naysayers, the doubters.

“Maybe, too, I’m just the last man standing. Whatever the case may be, we’re all together. We’re here. The heavyweight division is booming. It’s on fire. They say when you have a healthy heavyweight division, everything else unfolds and it becomes great. It can only go up from here.’’

It only can if the rematch meets heavyweight expectations.

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury: Unparalleled promotional build-up?

The Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury fight probably isn’t the biggest fight since the 1970s, as Fury suggested, but the hype has been monumental.

LAS VEGAS – Exaggerated expectations are a sure sign of an approaching opening bell and they were there when Tyson Fury arrived at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, four days before his heavyweight rematch with Deontay Wilder.

It’s a fight in search of historical parallels. How does it compare to other legendary heavyweight bouts in the division’s fabled history?

The comparisons have gone from moderate to top of the scale. There’s nothing bigger than Ali-Frazier, a modern standard for rivalries across sports and culture.

“Me and Wilder, this has to be the biggest heavyweight fight since the 1970s,’’ Fury told reporters Tuesday after arriving at the MGM Grand. “Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier, 1971, about 50 years ago. It took a while to get another massive heavyweight fight.’’

Tyson Fury believes his rematch with Deontay Wilder on Saturday in Las Vegas is the biggest heavyweight fight since the 1970s. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

Actually, there have been at least a couple. There was Anthony Joshua’s stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 people at London’s Wembley Stadium in April 2017.

There was the fight that set up this rematch, the Wilder-Fury draw on Dec. 1 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

When Wilder-Fury II was first announced, the operating parallel was Lennox Lewis’ eight-round stoppage of Mike Tyson in June 2002 in Memphis.

But there has been nothing quite like the promotional build-up for Wilder-Fury II. There were Super Bowl ads. There was a Fury appearance during the semifinals of the college football playoffs. It’s been unprecedented. You can only wonder what Frazier-Ali I, won by Frazier, would been like with the same kind of marketing.

It’s enough for Fury’s co-promoter, Bob Arum, to predict two million customers for the ESPN/Fox pay-per-view telecast. There might be some exaggeration in that projection, too. But Fury’s other co-promoter, Frank Warren, thinks it is possible.

“Look, it’s an exciting fight,’’ Warren said. “I hope that’s going to be the case. Think about it. When did you have a fight this significant? Go back, let’s say to when Lennox Lewis was fighting Mike Tyson. Tyson was shot. Lewis was the guy. Go back to when Larry Holmes fought Tyson. Holmes was shot.

“These guys are at the top of their game. This is the best fighting the best today. It’s not the past fighting the new guy.’’

Tyson Fury dismisses notion that he has had problems in camp

Tyson Fury dismissed talk that there were difficulties in his Las Vegas camp for his rematch with Deontay Wilder on Saturday.

Tyson Fury says he has had no problems in preparing for the heavyweight rematch with Deontay Wilder Saturday on Fox/ESPN pay-per-view. His only problem is with anybody who says there was trouble in his training camp

Fury dismissed talk from promoter Eddie Hearn that there were difficulties in his Las Vegas camp for the fight at the MGM Grand.

Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing, told U.K. media that he had changed his pick, from Fury to Wilder, because he had heard there were issues.

Nonsense, Fury says.

“I’m more dedicated for this fight than I’ve ever been,’’ Fury told Fight Hub TV.

There have been questions about whether Fury has had enough time to develop a working relationship with trainer SugarHill Steward, who he hired to succeed Ben Davison in mid-December.

Davison was in Fury’s corner for the controversial draw with Wilder about 15 months ago at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Davison was fired three months after Fury sustained a deep cut above his right eye in a surprisingly difficult decision over Otto Wallin on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.

“It was a great move,’’ Fury said of the decision to go with Steward, who named himself after his legendary uncle, Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward. “It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and at the best timing as well.’

Fury already knew SugarHill Steward from his days at Steward’s Kronk Gym in Detroit in 2010. Fury said he and his new trainer were able to pick up where they left off.

‘I can’t prepare any better than I have for this fight,’’ Fury said. “There’s no more I can do. I’m getting to bed early, I’m waking up early. I’m eating all the right food, drinking tons of water. I’m having vitamins, I’m having minerals – everything that a fighter needs in order to be successful.

“I’ve got the right sparring partners. I’ve got tall guys, I’ve got powerful guys, I’ve got awkward guys. I’ve got one in, one out, I’ve got eight in a row. I’ve got the trainer in there. I’ve got my brothers. I’ve got my friends. I’ve got everything you could ever need. I’m happy in my own mind.’’

Tyson Fury says he’s serious about his KO prediction

Tyson Fury says he can outbox Deontay Wilder but that only a knockout can guarantee victory in their rematch on Feb. 22.

Tyson Fury swears he’s not bluffing. From a fighter adept at knowing when and how to deliver a calculated feint in and out of the ring, it’s hard to judge what’s true and what’s fake. It’s a guessing game

Fury continues to play it by still saying he intends to knock out Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22 in the rematch of a draw in which he led on the scorecards until a couple of knockdowns, first in the ninth round and again in the twelfth 14 months ago at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Fury just make a couple of elementary adjustments and stay away this time on Fox/ESPN pay-per-view at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

But Fury is nothing if not unconventional. It’s part of his charm. Part of his game, too.

“Ten days until we find out if I’m bluffing,’’ Fury said this week during an international conference call. “People say many things. But we’ll find out if I’m man enough to back it up.

“The biggest mistake I made last time was not making him pay when I had him hurt. This time, I know I can do the distance, and when I get him hurt, I’ll throw everything but the kitchen sink at him.’’

Fury, who predicted a stoppage within two rounds in early January, said he discovered in the first bout that Wilder’s reliance on the singular power in his right hand makes him vulnerable.

“I learned that he can be hit, and he can be hurt quite regularly,’’ said Fury, who also had a profane explanation for what he has done to strengthen his chin since the knockdowns. “He’s got a big right hand. That’s it. He’s a one-dimensional fighter.”

Fury says only a win by knockout will be convincing.

“I can out-box Wilder very comfortably,’’ he said. “But it’s no good me believing it. The judges have to believe it. To guarantee victory, I need a knockout.

“I want it to be a defining win.’’

Deontay Wilder says he’ll target area where Tyson Fury was cut

Deontay Wilder plans to target the scar tissue above Tyson Fury’s right eye from a deep wound he suffered against Otto Wallin on Sept. 14.

Deontay Wilder plans to finish what Otto Wallin started.

It’s a bloody job, but Wilder says he’ll do it in a heavyweight rematch Feb. 22 against Tyson Fury on Fox/ESPN pay-per-view at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Wilder promised to target the scar tissue above Fury’s right eye from a deep wound he suffered in a decision Sept. 14 over Wallin, also in Las Vegas.

“I’ll be exploring the things that Wallin did,’’ Wilder said this week during a conference call. “I look forward to re-cutting open his eye. Once it’s open and blood is in his face, I might get some on me as well. That’s alright. I’ll embrace it. We’ll see if they keep the fight on, because I’m already dangerous.’’

Wilder believes that Fury’s fight with Wallin would have been stopped under ordinary circumstances. Fury suffered the cut in the third round. In a later round, he also was cut along the eyelid. He needed 47 stitches.

“He was saved because of this,’’ Wilder said of the rematch that had been rumored for months after their dramatic draw Dec. 1, 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

If a punch from Wilder ruptures the scar, he says the ringside physician will have to make a decision.

“With that eye cut open again, and blood in his face, it’s up to the doctors to take protocol,’’ he said. “We already know my demeanor, my mannerisms, what I come to do. I don’t play around at all.”

Meanwhile, Wallin (20-1, 13 KO), a Swede, returns to Las Vegas on March 28 in his first bout since suffering his first loss against Fury. He faces Australian Lucas Browne (29-2, 25 KOs) on a Showtime-televised card featuring Mexican junior featherweights Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs) vs. Aaron Alameda (25-0, 13 KOs) at the Park MGM.