By Geno McGahee
On Saturday, one of the most highly-anticipated matchups is going down between WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, 42-0-1, 41 KO’s, and former champion, Tyson Fury, 29-0-1, 20 KO’s. This is a rematch of a highly contested draw and there are plenty of questions and possibilities going into this showdown Saturday night.
On December 1st, 2018, Deontay Wilder would step into the ring to defend his title against Tyson Fury and the bout ended up displaying the tools that both men brought to the ring. Their styles complimented each other and both found ways to get their spots in during the 12 round affair. Fury was elusive and out-boxed the champion, but Wilder found his power shots late in the fight to earn the draw with two knockdowns.
The final knockdown in round 12 was the story of the fight when all the dust settled. Fury was knocked out cold but somehow got up and fought on, fighting hard and finishing strong. The knockdown became the story of the fight. Fury had done what no other fighter before or after him had done. He took Wilder’s best and got up to finish the fight.
Both fighters have had two fights since their dramatic draw. For Wilder, he had two devastating knockout title defenses. He beat Dominic Breazeale in the first round and Luis Ortiz in a rematch in round seven. For Fury, he pummeled the overmatched Tom Schwarz, stopping him in two rounds, and outpointed the tougher than expected, Otto Wallin, winning a wide decision.
The Wallin fight led to a change in trainers for Fury. Leaving Ben Davison, Fury is now Kronk-trained by Javan Steward, the nephew of Emanuel Steward. Emanuel Steward had great success with heavyweights, including Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and even led Oliver McCall to defeat Lennox Lewis for WBC heavyweight gold. Steward knew how to guide the big men but does Javan have the same talent?
The consensus going into this fight is that Tyson Fury will try to do what he did before without getting hit this time and take a decision win and if Deontay Wilder wins, he will finish where he left off in the final round of their first fight and knock out Fury in dramatic fashion. While both make sense, there are a couple of things that may make this a far different fight than expected.
Fury has been saying that he’s going to knock out Wilder in two rounds. While widely dismissed as pre-fight nonsense, I think there is some truth in what Fury is saying. Nobody has ever pushed Wilder back. The power that Wilder generates is much like Tommy Hearns. He needs room to unleash the punch. Any fighter that moves away from Wilder and tries to box him makes himself vulnerable to the right cross that he will be trying to set up from opening bell. If Fury elects to smother and attack, he may see some success and less danger.
For Wilder, it’s business as usual in this title defense, but he’s a better fighter now. He’s fighting with so much confidence and is setting up the knockouts in better fashion. The draw he had with Fury was the best thing that could have happened to him. He was able to learn from it and focus on improvement that will stop anyone else from making it to the finish line and taking his title. Luis Ortiz II is a good example of that. Ortiz was out-boxing him for six rounds but Wilder kept his cool and kept moving Ortiz into position for the right hand, much like George Foreman did against Michael Moorer. This fight probably convinced Fury to take another route in this rematch.
When the bell rings for the rematch, look for Fury to try to push Wilder back and stay close to avoid the outside shots, but I suspect this won’t last long. Wilder’s power will probably convince Fury to go back to what worked the first time and he’ll start piling up the points while neutralizing the champion’s output.
As the rounds go on, Fury will slow down. He has slowed down in the Wallin fight and in the first Wilder encounter. This is where the opportunity will present itself for Wilder. When you consider that Wilder is planning on coming in heavier, the punch that drops Fury will keep him down should he land it.
The two most likely scenarios thrown around by most is Fury by decision or Wilder by KO, which I agree with, but anything could happen in this rematch. This will not be a carbon copy of the first fight. Anything could happen once that bell rings, but we should have a conclusive ending here on Saturday night. I’m guessing this PPV will be well worth the cost.
PREDICTION
These are the two best heavyweights in the division and both are coming to win, but the scariest thing for every big man in the sport is that Deontay Wilder is getting better by the fight and the aura of invincibility that Mike Tyson once had is being earned by the Bronze Bomber.
Fury will come out and will try to push the champion back, but he will return to normal form after a couple of rounds to gain a lead on the cards going into the second half of the fight. Wilder will start pressing and will start to bridge the gap on the cards and will eventually find the challenger and score the knockout win in round 8 after a fight with plenty of ups and downs along the way.
