In his heyday, Foreman, much like Wilder today, had one of the great wrecking-ball right hands. Also like Wilder, Foreman suffered a devastating loss when he went up against Muhammad Ali in 1974 in the so-called “Rumble in the Jungle.” Ali, a heavy underdog, knocked Foreman out in the eighth round. Foreman would mount an incredible comeback, albeit more than a decade later, when he became the oldest heavyweight titleholder in heavyweight history at 45.
Given the similarities, Foreman thinks he can offer a helping hand to Wilder.
Foreman’s comment arrives after Wilder voiced a highly unconvincing mea culpa. He blamed his performance on the weight of his ringwalk costume and threw co-trainer Mark Breland under the bus for throwing in the towel, which prompted referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight.
“I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional,” Wilder told Yahoo Sports! “… I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.”
If Wilder moves on from Breland, who has been with him from Day 1 in the professional ranks, he’ll probably hire someone else to work with head trainer Jay Deas as he prepares to a likely third fight with Fury.
Promoter Bob Arum told TalkBox Podcast that he would explore the possibility of staging Fury-Wilder III at the new Allegiant Stadium.
Promoter Bob Arum believes a third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder would be big. NFL big.
Arum said on the Everlast TalkBox podcast that should Wilder give the green light for another go at Fury, he would look to stage it at the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders, the still-under-construction, $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium. It is scheduled to be completed by July 31.
“If Deontay Wilder wants a rematch, it’s a big, big fight,” Arum said. “We would look at the new Raiders Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to host its first boxing match ever. It’s all good. But everybody … all the promoters, whether it’s Al Haymon or myself … we’re hopefully going to be cooperative here and not blow the moment that boxing has clawed its way back to the mainstream.”
Fury-Wilder II, which ended with Fury scoring a seventh-round knockout of Wilder, took place at the MGM Grand Garden, the home for most big-ticket fights in the gambling capital. It seats only around 17,000, however, which a third fight may outgrow. Allegiant Stadium, on the other hand, will have a seating capacity of 65,000, along with state-of-the-art technology, including retractable windows and a translucent roof meant to offer an expansive view of the Las Vegas terrain.
Of course, Wilder would have to exercise his contractual right to a third fight. He has told multiple outlets in the past few days that he has every intention of doing so.
If not, Arum believes there’s another viable fight out there for Fury: A full unification with British compatriot Anthony Joshua. Joshua is slated to take on mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, a fight that Top Rank will co-promote, in June. Nevertheless, Arum said he can pull a few strings to make what would easily be the biggest all-British heavyweight fight ever.
“If Wilder decides to delay the fight, I know we can talk to Pulev to step aside — he’s the mandatory for Joshua — and have Joshua fight Fury, which is the fight that is first place of what you want to see in the heavyweight division.”
Tyson Fury’s father, John Fury, said his son has accomplished enough in the ring and should retire now.
Not everybody wants to see Tyson Fury back in the ring.
His dad wants him to retire.
That’s a lone opinion amid all the intense speculation about whom Fury should fight next in the wake of his stunning seventh-round stoppage of Deontay Wilder on Saturday night in Las Vegas. But it’s an opinion that matters more than most when Fury sits down at the dinner table with family and tries to figure out what’s next.
“I want my son to retire now,’’ his father, John Fury, told Good Morning Britain.
John Fury, who raised his son to fight, thinks there’s not much else to do. There are still three significant belts, all held by Joshua. There’s still a contract option that Wilder says he will exercise for a third fight. Tyson Fury still has three fights on his deal with ESPN. There’s still huge money on the table.
But there’s also an old line about quitting when you’re ahead. It applies, perhaps, to boxing more than any other pursuit. The longer the career, the higher the risk of serious injury.
“I think he’s done enough,’’ John Fury said. “He’s got no more to prove. He’s proved he’s been a worthy champion for his country. He’s been 13 years as a pro, and he’s always been the opponent. Wherever he’s gone to, it’s been an uphill battle for him.
“He’s [31] years old, he’s got a young family, and I do believe his children deserve a father, and he’s done enough. That’s my opinion. I want him to pack it in now, and I’ve said that to him.”
The pressure to fight on, however, is immense from his fans, especially at home in the U.K. The potential for an all-U.K. showdown with Joshua for the undisputed title is already being called The Battle of Britain. Fury has never been more popular. He’s a rock star, and the fans want an encore or three. It would be hard to walk off the stage. But John Fury says his son has thought about it.
“I think it’s in the back of his mind, to be fair, because he can’t do any more,’’ the elder Fury said. “He’s won every professional title there is to win.
“I think enough’s enough, and there’s more to life now.”
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)
“That was a great fight,” Trump said outside the White House on Sunday before leaving on a trip to India. “Two great fighters who are really, really exciting. Maybe we have to bring them both to the White House because that was really a good one.
“In fact, I think we will do that.”
The uncharacteristically aggressive Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) stopped Wilder in the seventh round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to become the newest titleholder in the division.
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) has the option of calling for a third fight, as per their contract.
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?
Kubrat Pulev was just trying to make it to the Wilder-Fury II card when he was deported to Bulgaria by US immigration officials.
While two top heavyweights were busy duking it out Saturday night inside the ring, one contender found himself in the throes of the U.S. immigration system.
It’s not clear why Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) was deported but it likely means he won’t be setting up training camp in the U.S. anytime soon. The Bulgarian, the mandatory challenger for one of Anthony Joshua’s titles, is tentatively slated to take on British star in June. The fight is expected to take place at either Wembley Stadium or the newly built Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This is not the first time Pulev has made negative headlines. The boxer came under fire for kissing a female reporter without consent last summer.
