Tyson Fury climbs from honorable mention to No. 8 on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list after stopping Deontay Wilder on Saturday.
The pound-for-pound concept was devised as a means of comparing fighters regardless of weight.
For example, not so long ago, we could’ve asked: Who would’ve won a bout between Floyd Mayweather and Wladimir Klitschko had they been the same size? Easy. Mayweather, whose skill set was far superior to that of the big Ukrainian and everyone else.
So where does Tyson Fury fit into the equation after his tremendous performance against Deontay Wilder on Saturday in Las Vegas?
Fury, who has been an honorable mention on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list for some time, dominated a feared, previously unbeaten opponent en route to a spectacular seventh-round stoppage before a sell-out crowd at the MGM Grand.
That kind of performance — on that kind of stage — certainly works in Fury’s favor. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Fury would stack up favorably against the stars that make our Top 10 if they fought in same division.
In the end, we decided after some back-and-forth discussion that we had to elevate Fury into the Top 10 in light of his dominance on Saturday but we didn’t want to get carried away: He jumps to No. 8, behind Errol Spence Jr. but ahead of Juan Francisco Estrada. That pushes Kosei Tanaka (No. 15 on the most-recent list) to honorable mention.
Of course, another victory over Wilder or one over Anthony Joshua in an all-U.K. title-unification bout by Fury could push him even higher.
Check out our pound-for-pound list below. And let us know what you think.
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Terence Crawford
Canelo Alvarez
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk
Gennadiy Golovkin
Errol Spence Jr.
Tyson Fury
Juan Francisco Estrada
Mikey Garcia
Artur Beterbiev
Josh Taylor
Manny Pacquiao
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Leo Santa Cruz
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Teofimo Lopez, Shawn Porter and Kosei Tanaka
Deontay Wilder said his legs were weak against Tyson Fury from the opening bell because of his heavy costume.
Deontay Wilder might be the first in heavyweight-title history to blame his loss on a costume.
It was too heavy, he told multiple outlets.
Maybe next time, he should just take a towel, cut a hole through the middle of it for his head and march into the ring the way Mike Tyson did.
It was primitive, but it was light. Worked, too
We’re not exactly sure how to describe what Wilder wore into the ring Saturday night at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. It was part comic book and part medieval. Apparently, it included batteries and who knows-what-all. It looked as if he were covered by more armor than an Abrams tank. He could have used some of that armor against Tyson Fury, who saved his legs. He didn’t walk at all. Fury was carried into the ring like some modern-day Caesar.
At the opening bell, however, Wilder’s armor was gone and apparently so were his legs.
In a fashion statement Monday, Wilder said his legs were shot from the weight of the costume, which reportedly cost $40,000.
“My uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder, who lost his title when assistant trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the seventh round of the rematch, told Yahoo! Sports. “I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight. In the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through.’’
Wilder was knocked down in the third. He was knocked down again in the fifth. He slipped a couple of times
“But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior,’’ said Wilder, who added that he wore the costume as a tribute to Black History Month. “It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything. A lot of people were telling me, ‘It looked like something was wrong with you.’
“Something was, but when you’re in the ring, you have to bluff a lot of things. I tried my best to do so. I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.’’
It sounds as if Wilder will shop for a new costume for a third fight. He said he intends to exercise an option for a third fight. Maybe he’ll opt for something a little bit more traditional.
Tyson Fury disassembled Deontay Wilder on Saturday to reclaim a major title and leave no doubt that he is the best active heavyweight.
Who are the best boxers in each of the original eight weight classes? Check out Boxing Junkie’s new “Great Eight” feature.
***
Thank you, Tyson Fury. You made our job easy.
The “Gypsy King” disassembled Deontay Wilder on a dramatic Saturday night in Las Vegas to reclaim a major title and leave no doubt whatsoever — at least in our collective opinion — that he is the best heavyweight in the world.
Thus, the colorful and remarkably skillful Englishman supplants Wilder as the heavyweight champ in Boxing Junkie’s Great Eight feature, in which we determine the best boxer in each of the original eight weight classes — heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.
It’s difficult to imagine that anyone will have a problem with our decision but hardened cynics are out there.
They might point to Anthony Joshua, who holds three of the four recognized sanctioning-body titles. We roll our collective eyes at that notion. Joshua had his behind handed to him by chubby underdog Andy Ruiz Jr. two fights ago, losing his belts in the process, before rebounding with an uninspiring points victory in the rematch.
We feel that Joshua is still rebuilding what he lost in the first fight with Ruiz, if that’s even possible.
And think about what Fury has done. He stunned the boxing world by easily outpointing seemingly untouchable Wladimir Klitschko to become the heavyweight champion in 2015 only to leave the sport to battle his inner demons for a few years.
Then, after losing about 150 pounds of blubber, he comes back (probably too soon) and outboxes Wilder in the opinion of most observers but has to settle for a draw in 2018. And, finally, with a new trainer and a new, aggressive style, he pummels and then stops his then-unbeaten rival in less than seven full rounds.
That’s legendary stuff.
The only remaining argument against Fury is that a victory over Wilder is overrated because Wilder is a crude boxer who has only one weapon, his big right hand.
We don’t buy that. Forty-one of Wilder’s 42 victories have come by knockout. He doesn’t have the skill set of, say, Fury, but that punching power ends up being the deciding factor in virtually all of Wilder’s fights. And, in this case, Fury just didn’t allow it to play a role in the outcome.
Brilliant performance, exceptional fighter. Fury arguably is the best big man since countryman Lennox Lewis was at the top of his game a generation ago.
Check out our Great Eight below.
HEAVYWEIGHT – Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs)
Tyson Fury is prepared to face Anthony Joshua to unify all the heavyweight titles if Deontay Wilder opts out of a third fight.
LAS VEGAS – Tyson Fury expects a third fight with Deontay Wilder, but he advertised his options if Wilder says no or decides to take an interim bout before the third leg in the trilogy.
In his stunning seventh-round stoppage of Wilder on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Fury wore a green-and-white mouthpiece that said:
Nigeria.
Could be coincidence, but the world is learning that most of what Fury does and often wears has a purpose, no matter how goofy.
Fellow U.K. heavyweight Anthony Joshua just happens to be of Nigerian descent. His mom is Nigerian. The country is tattooed on his right shoulder. He also has three of the heavyweight belts. Fury has the fourth, which he took from Wilder and added to his claim on the lineal title.
Joshua saw the mouthpiece and responded Sunday on Instagram, posting a photo of Fury with the mouthpiece and message in place.
During the post-fight news conference, Fury told Behind The Gloves:
“If Deontay don’t want the rematch, then let’s go AJ.”
Tyson Fury turned in a brilliant performance to defeat Deontay Wilder and win a portion of the heavyweight championship on Saturday.
GOOD
It all made perfect sense a few rounds into the fight.
The new, offensive-minded trainer. The aggressive game plan. The added heft. Brilliant. The now-former champion Deontay Wilder never really had much of a chance on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
We knew Tyson Fury was a better boxer than Wilder. We just didn’t focus enough on his size advantage – 273 pounds, to 231 – and willingness to use it.
The “Gypsy King,” attacking from the opening bell, delivered head-snapping jabs. He landed concussion power shots, including one that put his rival down in the third round and damaged him. And, when they got close, he simply held and leaned on the smaller man.
Wilder had no clue how to cope with this version of Fury, except to fire his vaunted right hand occasionally. And after he lost his legs, he couldn’t even that option didn’t seem viable.
The unbeaten knockout artist, who drew with a defense-minded Fury in 2018, was reduced to a punching bag in the rematch. He lasted only until 1:39 of Round 7, when Mark Breland, Wilder’s co-trainer, threw in the towel.
Fury proved beyond doubt that he, not Wilder, is the best heavyweight in the world. Anthony Joshua? After what we saw in Joshua’s first fight with Andy Ruiz Jr., it difficult to imagine him beating this version of Fury.
It’s also difficult to imagine Fury going back to his hit-and-not-be-hit style of the past after what we saw Saturday.
“Twenty-one knockouts in 30 fights ain’t so bad considering I’ve never really looked for knockouts in my career,” he said. “I’ve always looked to use my boxing skill. But with this weight alone, technique, right Sugar? We can knock out anybody, can’t we?”
Yes, you can.
BAD
It will be difficult for Deontay Wilder to bounce back from the beating he took from Tyson Fury on Saturday. Al Bello / Getty Images
Wilder said in the ring after the fight that “things like this happen.”
Indeed, things like this – bad things – happen in boxing. This was really bad, though. This wasn’t a one-punch knockout, after which one could say, “Hey, I got caught.” This was a back-alley beat down.
Those type of setbacks are more difficult to put behind you than a less-damaging loss. Wilder likely will never regain the status he enjoyed when he got up Saturday morning.
After the fight, he used the term “no excuses” yet he served one up. He said he had some sort of leg injury, although he didn’t elaborate. If that’s true, maybe a healthier Wilder would perform better. And maybe the damage to his ear did affect his equilibrium. If that was the case, he couldn’t have been expected to compete with a fighter as good and big as Fury.
I’m reaching here, though. The reality is that Fury is a better fighter than Wilder. A rematch is likely to produce a similar result.
Yes, Anthony Joshua suffered a brutal knockout loss against Andy Ruiz Jr. and then bounced back to outpoint him. The problem for Wilder is Ruiz is no Fury and he simply doesn’t have the skill set to turn the tables. He’d have to land one of his big rights, which is possible but harder to imagine now.
We all knew that Wilder’s limited boxing ability would probably catch up to him one day. That’s what happened on Saturday.
WORSE
Wilder’s co-trainer Mark Breland was right to throw in the towel in Round 7. Mark Ralston /AFP via Getty Images
“Going out on one’s shield.” That might be the most dangerous term in boxing.
I get it. These are warriors. And true warriors don’t give up. They continue to fight as long as they can raise their fights, the consequences be damned. That type of fighter has always existed in the sport. Wilder evidently is one of them.
The problem is that such a philosophy can lead to tragedy. And it’s the job of those around a warrior – his trainer, the referee, the ring doctor – to save him from his own instincts sometimes.
Wilder was angry at co-trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel as his fighter was taking a beating against the ropes. “Why did you do that?” he asked his cornerman. Jay Deas, Wilder’s other trainer and longtime advisor, tried to discourage Breland from doing what he did.
The fact is Breland did exactly the right thing.
Wilder had taken a terrible beating. Blood was dripping from his ear and from his mouth. And nothing happening in the ring suggested Wilder would be able to turn things around with one of his fearsome right hands.
Of course, anything was possible. At the same time, a hail Mary punch was highly unlikely. Fury, completely in charge, just wouldn’t allow it.
Had Wilder been allowed to continue, the only result would’ve been more physical – and possibly psychological – damage. What would’ve been the point? So he could say he went out on his shield?
Tyson Fury and the handlers of both fighters seem to think Fury and Deontay Wilder will do it one more time.
LAS VEGAS – The rematch left no doubt. Tyson Fury knocked out the questions and Deontay Wilder. Fury is the better heavyweight, perhaps the best in the world.
Fury finished the debate.
But not the business. Not yet, anyway.
There’s always more money to be made and it looks as if the potential for a lot more was left on the table in the wake of Fury’s stunning seventh-round stoppage of Wilder on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Wilder, proven to be the one-trick pony that Fury said he was, had no options within the ropes. But he still has one outside of them. He can opt for a third fight.
Tyson Fury would be OK with a third fight with Deontay Wilder. Al Bello / Getty Images
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to do it again,’’ Fury said at a post-fight news conference.
Fury couldn’t be certain. Wilder wasn’t there. Instead, he was reported to be at a nearby hospital, undergoing treatment for bleeding from his left ear. There probably wasn’t much that could be done for his fractured ego or the damage to his career. Only time can do that. But he has 30 days to exercise a contract option for a third fight.
“Certainly, I think they’ll probably want it,’’ Wilder trainer Jay Deas said. “We’ll want it.’’
From the financial side of the ledger, there were reasons for a third go-round. The sold-out crowd generated a live gate of $16, 916,4440, a Nevada box office record for a heavyweight title fight, surpassing the $16.88 million gate for the 1999 Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
The gate was a sign that the pay-per-view numbers will be big enough to do it all over again. According to Fury promoter Bob Arum, Fury and Wilder could collect more than $40 million each if the pay-per-view buys hit the 2 million mark.
Both were already guaranteed $25 million-to-$28 million, according to multiple sources with each promotional entity. Fury is with Top Rank and Wilder with Premier Boxing Champions.
Deontay Wilder was saved from himself by co-trainer Mark Breland, which didn’t sit well with the fighter. Al Bello / Getty Images
Fury probably can get that kind of money in an all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua. For Wilder, however, the only option is the third leg in a trilogy. It’s his call
“Deontay will take the time, but you’ll see these guys in the ring again,” Wilder manager Shelly Finkel said.
It was no surprise that Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn was already lobbying for Fury to fight Joshua next.
“No need for a third let’s go straight to it in the Summer!” Hearn said in a tweet.
For now, the question appears to be more when than if a third fight will happen. The extent of Wilder’s injuries was not immediately clear. Bleeding from his ear affected his equilibrium, Deas said. He was knocked down twice, once in the third round and again in the fifth. He also slipped at least twice during a bout in which he landed his feared right hand only a couple times in the early moments.
In the fight’s immediate aftermath, he complained about a leg injury. But he wasn’t specific about the nature of the injury or how it affected him.
Trouble in his corner is also possible. Co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel at 1:39 of the seventh round. That angered Wilder.
“The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel, and I was ready to go out on my shield,’’ Wilder said before leaving the arena. ‘I just wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield, I’m a warrior. But he (Fury) did what he did and there’s no excuses.’’
As he returned to his corner, Wilder can be heard on the telecast asking: “Why did you do that?’’
Deas said he asked Breland not to throw the towel.
“I told him: ‘Don’t do that,’’’ Deas said. “I didn’t think he should do that. Then the fight went on a little bit longer and then I saw the towel go in, so I haven’t talked to Mark about it.
“But we’ll talk about it and figure out what exactly happened there.’’
Tyson Fury said he would knock out Deontay Wilder in their rematch Saturday in Las Vegas. He did more than that. He destroyed him.
Tyson Fury truly is the king.
He said he would knock out Deontay Wilder in their rematch Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He did more than that. He methodically destroyed the greatest knockout artist of the era.
When it was over, Wilder, unable to adequately defend himself, had blood coming out of an ear and his mouth. And Fury reclaimed the position he first earned by beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and then gave up to battle his personal demons.
“The king has returned to the top of the throne,” Fury said.
It was the right hand of Tyson Fury — not that of Deontay Wilder — that did the damage in their rematch Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. AP Photo / Isaac Brekken
Fury’s ring entrance was prophetic. He entered the ring wearing the garb of a king and sat on a throne while the Patsy Cline song “Crazy” played over the loudspeakers in the packed hotel arena. Crazy like a fox.
In their first fight, a disputed draw in December 2018, Fury fought defensively. He vowed that he would take the fight to Wilder in the rematch. And he did from the opening bell.
Right from the start, Fury, moving forward, landed thudding jabs, some hard rights and rarely allowed Wilder to get into position to land his big right hand. And when they ended up in close quarters Fury, all 6-foot-9, 273 pounds of him, would hold and lean on the smaller man in an apparent attempt to sap his strength.
Wilder, long criticized for his crude technique, had no answers for what turned out to be a brilliant game plan.
The beginning of the end for Wilder came in Round 3, when, toward the end of the round, Fury landed right toward the top of Wilder’s head and down he went. He was able to get to his feet and finish the round but he was never 100 percent after that.
Fury (left) battered Wilder to a point where Wilder’s corner had to save him from Fury and himself. AP Photo / Isaac Brekken
In the next round, he seemed to fight on shaky legs, as if he had problems with his equilibrium. At one point, he ducked a punch from Fury and awkwardly stumbled backward onto his back.
Then, in Round 5, a left to Wilder’s side put him down again a little over a minute into the round. It became evident then that blood was dripping from Wilder’s left ear, raising the possibility that his ear drum was damaged.
Fury lost a point for holding in that round, which seemed to irk him for a moment, but nobody watching at the point thought it would matter. Fury was in complete control.
Wilder looked like a beaten man in Round 6, seemingly too damaged even to set up one of his trademark right hands, although he tried. It seemed only a matter of time before Fury would finish the job and reclaim a portion of the heavyweight championship.
The latter part of the round was marked by a strange moment. Fury, who had said beforehand he wanted to taste blood, appeared to feign licking some of it off of Wilder.
Finally, in Round 7, Wilder was still wobbly when Fury trapped him in a corner and flailed away, landing one right in particular that caught the eye. And Wilder threw little back. Finally, Wilder’s corner, putting his health above his title, signaled to referee Kenny Bayless that enough was enough and the fight was waved off.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) had reclaimed his royal status.
Fury was pounding Wilder in a corner when Wilder’s corner threw in the towel. Mikey Williams / Top Rank
“A big shout out to Deontay Wilder,” Fury said graciously afterward. “He showed he has the heart of a champion. I hit him clean [when I] dropped him but he continued to battle. He will be back, he will be champion again.”
Fury then began to celebrate in earnest as the pro-“Gypsy King” crowd cheered their support, capped by the fighter-turned-singer’s rendition of “American Pie” in what became a raucous singalong.
Meanwhile, Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) tried to make sense of what had just happened.
The “Bronze Bomber” had stopped all but one of the men he faced. No matter what preceded it, his right hand almost always proved to be the difference in his fights. However, on this night, he was dominated by a better fighter.
Wilder cryptically made reference to issues he had going into the fight, presumably physical problems, but he never elaborated. And he expressed frustration that his corner ended the fight.
“I’m doing good,” he said. “Things like this happen. The best man won tonight. My side through in the towel. I was ready to go out on my shield. I had a lot going on coming into this fight. … No excuses tonight. I wish my corner would’ve let me go out on my shield.
“… I’ll come back stronger. … Even the greatest have lost and come back. It’s just part of it. I take it for what it is.”
Wilder has the option of calling for a third fight, which was in the contract he and Fury signed. It’s difficult to imagine him and his team jumping right back into the ring with Fury, though.
The beating delivered by the Englishman was too thorough, too conclusive, too damaging. Wilder will have some thinking to do. And some healing.
Former heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin outboxed, outworked and then stopped Gerald Washington is Round 6 on Saturday.
Former heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin outboxed, outworked and then stopped Gerald Washington is Round 6 on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury card Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Martin (28-2-1, 25) had built a lead on the cards when he landed an overhand left to the chin, which sent Washington to the canvas flat on his back.
The former football got up fairly quickly on wobbly legs but, obviously dazed, he was in no condition to fight. Referee Tony Weeks took one good look into Washington’s eyes and waved off the fight at 1:57.
The fight was billed as a title eliminator.
Martin has won three consecutive fights since losing his title to Anthony Joshua by knockout and Adam Kownacki by decision in a span of four fights.
Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs) has now lost four of his last six fights, all by stoppage. At 37, he will be hard pressed to remain a contender.
Emanuel Navarrete may not be long at junior featherweight, but he defended his title with an 11th-round TKO of Jeo Santisima.
In his fifth fight in nearly nine months, junior featherweight titleholder Emanuel Navarrete appeared sluggish at times against Jeo Santisima on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But the 25-year-old Mexican outworked the Filipino challenger and eventually stopped him in the 11th round of with a barrage of unanswered combinations.
Navarrete, one of the more active titleholders in the sport, started out slow and seemed to grow fatigued in the middle rounds, but he laid down a considerable beating of Santisima. Navarrete had Santisima hurt in Round 5, but took the next round off. There also appeared to be an issue with Navarette’s right hand, which he explained afterward was the result of a slight injury.
“I hurt him weirdly with my right hand and hurt my thumb but I had to plough through it,” Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) said.
Navarrete turned it up in Round 10, tagging Santisima (19-3, 16 KOs) with strafing punches from pillar to post. Referee Russell Mora stopped the bout at 2:27 of Round 11.
There have been whispers that Navarrete may look to move up to the featherweight division for his next fight.
Also on the undercard, junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora may be a physical freak of nature, but he is still clearly very much a a work progress. The six-foot-six prospect was tested by Aussie Daniel Lewis in a scheduled 10-rounder en route to a unanimous decision win.
Scores were 97-93, 98-92, and 99-91.
Lewis was outmatched from the start, but he succeeded in making the fight a phonebooth affair, thus partially negating Fundora’s remarkable height. Lewis landed overhand rights and left hooks that had Fundora bleeding from the nose in Round 2.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but I had the flu,” Fundora (14-0-1, 9 KOs) said afterward. “That’s why my nose bled.”
Still, it was Fundora who controlled the action and landed the harder shots. He consistently landed the right uppercut as Lewis (6-1, 4 KOs) tried to bulldoze his way inside. By the mid rounds, a purple mouse was visible under his right eye.
In a mild upset, Javier Molina (22-2, 9 KOs) outpointed Amir Imam (21-3, 18 KOs) over eight rounds in a junior welterweight bout.
Scores were 79-73, 78-74, and 78-74.
It was a closely contest bout, but Molina, who fought primarily off the backfoot, was a bit craftier. Imam showed little creativity on offense as he simply walked towards Molina trying to land his right hand.
For nearly seven rounds, welterweight Subriel Matias had his way with Petros Ananyan, landing one thuddingpower shots after another. A stoppage seemed imminent. But in the waning moments of Round 7, Ananyan, bruised and bloodied, connected on four consecutive overhand rights and then a left hook that sent Matias reeling into the ropes. Referee Robert Byrd issued a standing eight count, and just like that, the scheduled 10-rounder instantly turned. Matias never truly recovered, as Ananyan, the decided underdog, pushed the pace en route to a unanimous decision upset.
Judges scored it 96-93, 95-94, and 95-94, all for Ananyan (15-2-2, 7 KOs).
This was just the third bout for Matias (15-1, 15 KOs) since his tragic bout against the late Maxim Dadashev, who passed from ring injuries sustained during that fight.
Featherweight contender Issac Lowe outpointed Alberto Guevara in a foul-filled fight on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury II card Saturday.
Featherweight contender Issac Lowe and Alberto Guevara made strong statements on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury card Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas … but not the good kind.
Referee Vic Drakulich deducted a total of six points – three from each boxer – in a 10-round fight filled with fouls.
That’s why the scores look odd to those who follow the sport: 96-87, 96-87 and 95-88, all for the winner Lowe (20-0-3, 6 KOs). The British fighter put Guevara (27-6, 12 KOs) of Mexico down in the eighth round.
In other undercard fights, lightweight prospect Rolando Romero (11-0, 10 KOs) stopped Arturs Ahmetovs (5-1, 2 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled eight-round bout.
And 17-year-old welterweight prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. (5-0, 3 KOs) defeated Corey Champion (1-3, 1 KO) by a unanimous decision in a four-round bout.
