Tag: Wilder-Fury 2

Deontay Wilder’s trainer: Right wrist injury in camp was factor in Wilder-Fury I

Jay Deas, Deontay Wilder’s trainer, said a wrist injury suffered early in camp affected his timing in his first fight with Tyson Fury.

Deontay Wilder has said repeatedly that he was unable to land the big punch until late in his first fight with Tyson Fury, who went down in the ninth and 12th rounds, at least in part because he was trying too hard for the knockout.

There could’ve been a second reason.

Jay Deas, Wilder’s longtime trainer and manager, said that his fighter injured his right wrist very early in training camp for their December 2018 draw in Los Angeles. The wrist was healthy come fight time but, Deas said, the injury didn’t help Wilder in one respect.

Wilder faces Fury in a rematch on Feb. 22 in Las Vegas.

“The first time, when the fight was first announced, Deontay had really fairly severely injured his right arm and we kind of didn’t take any chances with during camp,” Deas said on The PBC Podcast. “We hit mitts and stuff instead of hitting people, not wanting to land awkwardly and reinjuring it.

“… Going into the fight he was fine but the thing that was lost was the timing. I think you saw that in Rounds 1 through 8, that the timing on the right hand wasn’t quite right. Well, there are no issues this time. So I feel really good about where we are.”

Another factor might’ve been working against Wilder: According to Deas, he didn’t eat enough in the days leading up to the fight.

Wilder weighed in at only 212½ for the first fight, 44 pounds lighter than Fury. Deas and the team don’t pay too much attention to Wilder’s weight but they would prefer that he weigh more than that.

“He was so anxious the first time he wasn’t eating enough. He’s wasn’t eating at all at times,” Deas said. “He came in at 212 and, the night of the fight, 209. By the time he knocked Fury down in the 12th round, Deontay was probably at cruiserweight (below 200).”

Wilder has been outweighed (42-0-1, 41 KOs) in all but seven of his 43 fights, the last time in 2012. His results suggest the weight isn’t important.

“We’re so used to him being outweighed,” Deas said. “It’s probably an advantage. The speed is a difference, a factor. The speed is part of the reason he can hit so hard. That power he generates does come in part from velocity.

“A 250-pound Deontay Wilder? That’s isn’t him. He’s got awkward effectiveness and unique athleticism. That probably works best when he’s 218 to 226.”

Anthony Joshua could fight Wilder-Fury winner in Saudi Arabia

Talks are under way for Anthony Joshua to fight the winner of the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch in Saudi Arabia.

It looks as if Anthony Joshua might return to the place where he regained his belts and restored his respect.

Talks are under way for Joshua to fight the winner of the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch in Saudi Arabia, where he came back from a humiliating defeat in June with a one-sided decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. on Dec. 7 in Diriyah.

Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports that they have an offer for a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title later in the year.

“We have a huge site offer in place for that fight to take place,’’ Hearn said Friday. “A big option. We have a partnership out there in Saudi Arabia.

“They put the money up for the Andy Ruiz fight. Everything they promised, they delivered. They want this fight bad, and when they’ve got that kind of attitude and mentality, it’s going to be difficult to beat.”

The Fury-Wilder rematch is scheduled for Feb. 22 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand on Fox/ESPN+ pay-per-view.

“We have to try and make that happen,” Hearn said. “Right now, the fight that Anthony Joshua wants is the winner of Wilder and Fury.

It still looks as if Joshua next opponent will be Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in mandatory defense for one of the UK heavyweight’s belts. Talks are ongoing.

“Pulev is the frontrunner,” Hearn said.

Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev: IBF extends deadline for talks

Dillian Whyte skeptical about Tyson Fury’s plan to fight him

Tyson Fury said that Dillian Whyte is one of three fighters he wants to face before he retires but Whyte is skeptical.

Dillian Whyte is on Tyson Fury’s short list. But he’s been there before, which is enough precedent for Whyte not to believe much of anything from Fury.

Fool Whyte once, but not twice.

That’s Whyte’s reaction to Fury’s mention of him as one of the three heavyweights he’d like to fight before retirement. First, Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22 in a Fox/ESPN2 pay-per-view rematch, then Joshua and Whyte, Fury said of his retirement plan.

“Fury is really good at conning the public, saying the right things to keep the public interested,’’ Whyte told iFL TV. “He does that all the time, saying things to get the public on his side.

“He talks a lot of (expletive) as well. So I don’t buy into that. Let’s see what happens. Fury said he was going to fight me before. If he wants it, he can get it. I don’t know who I’m fighting.’’

Whyte is expected to fight on March 28. He’s waiting to hear whether Andy Ruiz Jr. will take a reported seven-figure offer from Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn to fight him on that date. If not Ruiz, Russian Alexander Povetkin is a possibility.

“I don’t know,’’ Whyte said. “I’m waiting to see what Eddie s doing. I’m up for getting big fights this year, if they’re in America, Africa or wherever. We made Andy Ruiz an offer before Povetkin. So let’s see if he wants it.’’

Tyson Fury on Oleksandr Usyk: ‘Why would I want to fight him?’

Tyson Fury, the U.K.’s lineal heavyweight champion, continues to dump trash talk all over Usyk, saying he would never fight the Ukrainian.

Tyson Fury is talking about three more fights, including the Deontay Wilder rematch Feb. 22, before leaving boxing and moving on to pro wrestling, or singing, or stand-up comedy, or all of the above.

Whomever he fights and whatever the undisputed multitasker does next, it looks as if Oleksandr Usyk is not a possibility. Usyk is just another Fury punch line.

Fury, the U.K.’s lineal heavyweight champion, continues to dump trash talk all over Usyk, saying he would never fight the Ukrainian.

“Usyk isn’t on the list,’’ Fury told iFL TV during a break from his Las Vegas training camp for the Wilder rematch at the MGM Grand on Fox/ESPN+ pay-per-view. “He’s a no-name. He doesn’t make any money. Why would I want to fight him for?

“He’s a small cruiserweight, a foreigner who doesn’t speak good English, and no one is really interested anyway. I want the big fights that people are interested in, and that ain’t one of them.’’

Ain’t exactly the King’s English, but there was no mistaking what Fury thinks of Usyk, who he has called “some cruiserweight bum.’’

Fury also said he wants to keep the heavyweight belts in the West, meaning the U.K. and United States. Fury, remember, traces his lineal claim back to his Nov. 2015 decision over another Ukrainian, Wladimir Klitschko, then the undisputed heavyweight champion.

After Wilder, Fury says he wants to fight Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was asked whether would consider Usyk if he beat Joshua.

“Still, it wouldn’t be a big fight,’’ Fury said. “It’s still a foreigner in a westernized world. The belts are back in the West, and they’re going to stay there.

“For whatever it sounds like, the heavyweight championships should be from Britain or America [and] nowhere else.’’

Sounds like a heavyweight Cold War.

Deontay Wilder: ‘That lineal BS … it ends with (Tyson Fury)’

Deontay Wilder called Tyson Fury’s claim to the lineal heavyweight championship “BS” and promised it would end on Feb. 22.

Deontay Wilder hears lineal and thinks lie.

Wilder continues to dismiss Tyson Fury’s claim on the lineal heavyweight title, which is based on Fury’s unanimous decision over then-undisputed champion Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany in November 2015.

It’s as simple as connecting dates like dots in a historical line, a lineal succession as old as the British monarchy. It’s sanctioned by history instead of an acronym. But Wilder wants to see something more tangible. He’s looking for a belt, one very much like the green one he had slung across a shoulder when he appeared at a news conference in Los Angeles this week.

“He goes around talking he has the lineal title, something that is make believe and fake,’’ said Wilder, who is three weeks into his training camp for his Feb. 22 rematch of draw with Fury more than 13 months ago. “Only belt he’s got is the one holding up his pants. That’s all he’s got. He ain’t no champion.

“Come February 22, that lineal BS, it ends. It ends with him.’’

There’s been a debate over Fury’s lineal claim. Fury relinquished his belts in 2016 amid doping charges and controversy about his erratic lifestyle. But he didn’t lose them in a fight. The line between him and his victory over Klitschko remains intact. Only a loss in the ring could break that line, turn lineal into a lie. But that loss is not there.

Fury, who promises to teach Wilder a lesson in the ring, tried to teach him a history lesson at the news conference.

“Anybody who knows anything about boxing knows that the lineal title goes back to John L. Sullivan,’’ said Fury, who comes from a long line of the bare-knuckle boxing once practiced in the U.K.

But Wilder doesn’t want to hear lessons. He only wants to see the belts.

Deontay Wilder: Tyson Fury’s change of trainers sign of trouble

Deontay Wilder says Tyson Fury’s decision to fire trainer Ben Davison is a sign that he’s nervous about his chances in their Feb. 22 rematch

Deontay Wilder looks at change in Tyson Fury’s corner and sees turmoil. But Fury embraces change, calling it an inevitable step in a never-ending quest to get better.

Wilder says Fury’s surprising decision to fire trainer Ben Davison and hire SugarHill Steward is a sign that he’s nervous about his chances in their Feb. 22 rematch on Fox/ESPN+ pay-per-view.

“He changes trainers like he changes his drawers,’’ Wilder said at a news conference this week in Los Angeles, just across the street from where they fought to a controversial draw more than 13 months ago at Staples Center.

But, Wilder suggests, the move from one trainer to another will only leave Fury dizzy and without answers.

“If he beat me, then why all the new trainers?’’ Wilder said. “Every day it changes. Firing and hiring. He wants to talk about being out of shape the first time, but he was in great shape. He spent 100,000 [British] pounds on all those camps.

“I still to this day have the same people with me and I don’t need to change it.’’

Wilder has always been with Jay Deas and began working with Mark Breland in 2008. A familiar face in the corner is believed to be a significant, yet intangible factor, especially amid the pressure and potential adversity in a big fight. For Wilder and Fury, no fight is bigger than their rematch.

Fury says Steward is a familiar face. He got to know him years ago while sparring at the Kronk Gym for SugarHill’s namesake and mentor, the late Emanuel Steward.

The change in Fury’s corner was prompted by what happened in the bloody decision over Otto Wallin on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas. Fury’s father complained that his son looked unprepared. He blamed Davison, saying a change was necessary if his son hoped to beat Wilder in a rematch. Three months later, Davison was gone.

Fury said he was ready to move on anyway. He said he had grown stale.

“You’re never a finished article,’’ Fury said. “You can always improve. I like to keep freshening things up every now and again. I don’t make excuses. I won fair and square and we get to do it again. I’m ready for a fight today.

“I’m looking for a knockout. That’s why I hired SugarHill. He gets you to sit down on that big right hand. That’s what I’m looking for. There’s the game plan. If I wasn’t looking for a knockout, I would have sharpened up what I did in the last fight. I’m not coming for that. I’m looking for my 21st knockout.’’

Deontay Wilder let’s his rival (expletives) have it

Deontay Wilder blasted rivals Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua for teaming up against him, saying “I guess it’s U.K. versus USA.”

Silence is a relative term when applied to Deontay Wilder. A temporary one, too. The expletives are back and nobody is surprised.

After practicing some quiet time after visiting The Pope, Wilder exploded, going from mute to window-rattling in a supersonic second in an attack targeting heavyweight rival Tyson Fury and all that talk about Anthony Joshua as a sparring partner in Fury’s camp for their Feb. 22 rematch on pay-per-view.

Forget that Joshua has yet to show up in Fury’s camp. That detail doesn’t matter to Wilder any more than Wilder’s flu mattered to Fury when he ripped him for not showing up at a scheduled media appearance during college football playoffs the day after the fight was announced last month.

Wilder just wants to talk. And he did. Did he bleeping ever.

“Look at those (expletives), that’s what I said, they’re all some (expletives),’’ Wilder told ThaBoxingVoice Saturday. “Who tries to team up on someone, you know?

“You say you’re the best, I say I’m the best. Now, you (expletives) are trying to team up with each other. I guess it’s U.K. versus USA.

“It builds my confidence up, it allows me to hold my chest out and lift my head up a little bit more higher and walk through the room like I’m the man.”

Wilder will be in a room with Fury Monday in Los Angeles for a news conference. At least, he’s scheduled to.

Tyson Fury reveals sparring partners … where’s Anthony Joshua?

Tyson Fury revealed his sparring partners for his rematch with Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22. Anthony Joshua isn’t among them.

Tyson Fury’s sparring partners for his rematch with Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22 have been revealed. And none is named Anthony Joshua.

Joshua, who holds three of the four major heavyweight titles, offered to spar with Fury ahead of the Wilder fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – and Fury accepted – but it appears that unusual arrangement won’t become reality.

Fury will spar with newbies George Fox (3-0, 0 KOs), David Adeleye (1-0, 1 KO) and Jared Anderson (2-0, 2 KOs), according to talkSPORT. Adeleye and Anderson are both listed at 6-foot-4 on Boxrec.com, three inches shorter than Wilder. Fox’s height wasn’t listed but he appears to be as tall at the 6-9 Fury in a photo.

Joshua reiterated that the offer to spar with his British rival was genuine … sort of.

“You know when I look back at some of the s— I say, I think, ‘Why did I say that?’” Joshua told talkSPORT. “So now we’re going to talk about it and give more publicized things to talk about. Fury is a world-class fighter and I’m a world-class fighter that is still trying to improve so I can become like an elite-level fighter.

“Sparring Fury is only going to do me good, in my opinion. So I’m never too big for my boots where I can’t learn anymore. So that opportunity, for me to spar Fury, is for my own benefit as well.”

Joshua also reiterated that he hopes Fury beats Wilder to set up an all-U.K. title fight, which was another reason to help him in camp.

Said Joshua: “And the reason why I thought about it and the reason why it came to fruition for me is because I feel like, if Fury was to win that fight [against Wilder], I think he would be more inclined to fight me next and quicker than Wilder would.”

Of course, as talkSPORT pointed out, Joshua could still show up unannounced at the gym.

Frank Warren comfortable with Tyson Fury’s change of trainers

Promoter Frank Warren said he’s fully confident Tyson Fury “knows what he’s doing in bringing in Javan SugarHill Steward.”

A new trainer is sometimes interpreted as a sign of uncertainty, if not turmoil, but Tyson Fury promoter Frank Warren is comfortable with Fury’s decision to fire Ben Davison and hire SugarHill Steward before the heavyweight rematch with Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22.

No worries, Warren says

“I know there is some concern about Fury changing trainers ahead of such a colossal clash,’’ Warren told The Mirror, a U.K. publication.  “I’m certainly sad to see him split with Ben Davison because the pair were great together.

“But when Fury appointed Davison as the man to help him get back to the top many questioned him using such a young trainer. How wrong they were.’’

Davison was a key in helping Fury fight his way back into the championship mix after he slipped into a lifestyle that included more drugging, drinking and dining than training. Fury was reportedly about 400 pounds about a year before his controversial draw with Wilder on Dec. 1, 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

But a difficult decision over then-unknown Otto Wallin on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas generated widespread criticism of Davison in a fight that left Fury badly bloodied. On Dec. 15, Davison was fired and Steward was hired.

Fury, who says he is already in camp for the rematch, said he made the move because he had grown “stale.’’ He said he already had a relationship with Steward, the former Javan Hill and a nephew of the late Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward.

“I am fully confident he knows what he’s doing in bringing in Javan SugarHill Steward to take the corner for the Wilder rematch,’’ Warren said. “Few fighters know what’s best for them (more) than Fury and he will not have made the decision lightly.”

Anthony Joshua reiterates that heavyweight title goes through him

Anthony Joshua is conducting a campaign to remind everyone that he has most of the heavyweight belts and most of the clout.

Anthony Joshua isn’t fighting anybody in February, yet he continues to keep himself squarely in the middle of all the talk swirling around the Feb. 22 Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch on Fox/ESPN pay-per-view.

It’s still not clear whether he’ll be Fury’s sparring partner or in training for his own fight, a mandatory defense against Kubrat Pulev about a month from now. Maybe he’ll do both. Maybe not.

But it is abundantly clear he will keep himself in the conversation as perhaps the only option for the Fury-Wilder winner. It’s almost as if Joshua is conducting a political campaign, tirelessly reminding everyone that he has most of the belts and most of the clout. Fury-Wilder II looms as the biggest heavyweight fight in years, but Joshua is talking as if the real biggie – the true main event – will happen later in the year. Against him and only him.

That might be why he wondered aloud on Sky Sports this week why Wilder has only one belt in 43 fights while he has three in 24.

Now he has turned to iTV to explain why he’s picking Fury, already a slight betting favorite, to win the sequel at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. Above all, he says, he thinks it would be easier to put together a fight with Fury than it would Wilder.

“The reason why I thought about it and why it came to fruition for me is because I feel like if Fury was to win that fight, I think he’d be more inclined to fight me next and quicker, than Wilder would,” Joshua said.

A Fury victory would also set up an all-U.K. showdown, perhaps for all of the pieces of the heavyweight title. Between now and then, however, belts and bucks could change hands.

Timing and circumstances might make it hard for Joshua to hold onto the three belts he took back in a rematch decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. on Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia. He wants to keep those belts. But mostly he wants what everybody else wants: The Fury-Wilder winner

“That’s why I was rooting for Fury to win, because I just want to fight and collect my last belt,’’ Joshua said. “If I was a betting man, I think Fury wins.”