The seeds for this fight were sown over two years ago when Tyson Fury confronted Wilder after his third defence of the WBC Heavyweight Title.
This altercation occurred two months after Tyson Fury had upset the odds to dethrone longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko, the only belt Fury wasn’t holding at the time was the one Wilder captured a few months later (WBC Title) which gives you an idea of why Fury was going after Deontay Wilder.
In the meantime, Wladimir Klitschko invoked his right to a rematch. The fight was initially scheduled to take place in July of 2016, the contest was rescheduled to September after Fury sustained an injury during training camp, a positive drug test and subsequent ban for Fury ensured the rematch never took place.
Recently the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King” revealed Fury contemplated committing suicide during his struggles, battling his way through depression & weight gain Fury has managed to find his way back to Boxing. With no Wladimir Klitschko who has since retired, there are no rematch clauses to honour which means Wilder is the obvious choice for Fury’s first big fight since becoming Heavyweight Champion.
Tyson Fury has had two fights this year against opponents he would have beaten with one arm three years ago. The purpose of these fights was to work Fury back into action slowly after the hurdles he’s had to overcome these past few years. Fury was successful in both fights but a far cry from the best version of himself.
If Fury is to defeat Wilder he needs to be a lot sharper than what we’ve seen since his return, at his best he’s a problem for any heavyweight due to his size and mobility.
When breaking down what Tyson Fury does well it’s hard to isolate a remarkable skill, he moves well for a man his size, he’s got fantastic conditioning, the thing he does best is neutralising opponents, especially their strengths.
Wladimir Klitschko fell victim to Fury’s game. Klitschko was a strong favourite, nothing Fury had done prior to his first world title fight gave me any confidence he could win. Fury’s been knocked down by smaller guys, not known as a big puncher I couldn’t see a clear route to victory.
In what was the most uneventful Heavyweight Title fight in modern times Fury defeated Klitschko by doing just a little bit more than his Ukranian counterpart, the size was an issue for Klitschko & it looked as if Wladimir underestimated Fury’s movement.
Klitschko looked like a rabbit in the headlights for 10 rounds before realising he needed a knockout to win at which point it was already too late.
1st
In a nutshell, Tyson Fury’s most effective weapon is his unpredictability, nobody knows which version of Fury will turn up on December 1st, including Deontay Wilder.
Now if Tyson Fury is a jack of all trades without having a speciality then Wilder is the opposite, he’s the master of one.
The hardest puncher in the world, possibly one of the hardest punchers ever, Wilder is a legitimate knockout artist with thunderous power, there’s a variety of ways to stop a fight without actually separating a man from his consciousness but Wilder is only interested in finishing the fight emphatically.
When Wilder hits men they don’t just fall they crumble, some have taken minutes to come back around.
A consistent criticism of Wilder is that he’s technically weak, occasionally leaving his feet when throwing punches other times swinging wildly, however, no man has ever found a way to avoid his power thus far. The only man to take Wilder the distance (Bermane Stiverne) was knocked out in the rematch.
Wilder vs Fury is a classic boxer vs puncher match up. The strategy on paper going in is abundantly clear, Wilder will be doing the hunting & Fury will be laying the traps.
The biggest question is, which version of Tyson Fury will turn up? he’s not just been inactive he’s been overweight & struggling with his mental health. Can he ever be the same fighter he was three years ago?. Nobody really knows it’s an impossible thing to estimate.
Conventional Wisdom would say an athlete has a limited amount of miles before the body starts showing signs of decline, what we can’t measure is if Fury has used up all his good miles in the time he’s been away.
If Tyson Fury does win it’ll be one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of sports & his legacy will be unquestionable, beating Wladimir Klitschko in his home country against the odds, defeating Wilder after three years off. Even Fury’s biggest critics would struggle to deny the magnitude of difficulty in beating those two men under the circumstances surrounding both fights.
Prediction
Deontay Wilder wins by KO/TKO between rounds 4-6.