If it makes you feel better, just view this as Wilder's first shot at the WORLD Heavyweight Championship. If he wins, all of his fights going forward will be WORLD title fights. And you can view his WBC title defenses in the same light as Wlad and Vitali's WBO reigns. As someone who is fighting for the first time for the WORLD Heavyweight championship in his 44th pro fight, his record is just fine. For example, it's better than George Foreman's before he challenged Frazier. Better than Vitali's before he challenged Lewis. Better than Bowe's before he challenged Holyfield.
I'm sure they would have taken all this in to consideration but I do believe the cut was that bad that it's going to open up as soon as he takes a solid shot on it. The problem is if Wilder lands a solid shot on Furys face, a cut is the last thing he needs to worry about, he is going in to orbit.
Yes,yes , I see your point. Very often I've thought Fury reminded me of Tommy Hearns,,,,,uh, err, ha,ha, oh' ha,ha,ha.
It's written on the contract, Frank Warren confirmed it to BBC radio microphones yesterday. Whoever loses between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, will have thirty days to ask for the rematch and the other party will be obliged to accept the request. The third match will take place in the summer of 2020. Said Fury. “When I defeat Wilder, Anthony Joshua's clan will attempt to bring me a reunification. But I will accept the third challenge, nothing else. There is too much money at stake. " The first match took place on December 1, 2018 and ended in a draw: a judge 115-111 for Wilder, another 114-112 for Fury, the third 113-113. Saturday, February 22, the second meeting at the MGM in Las Vegas for the WBC heavyweight title. Most bookmakers offer Wilder (42-0-1, 40 knockouts) favorite over Fury (29-0-1, 20 knockouts). The champion pays 115/100, the challenger 100/125. Only William Hill reversed the trend, passing Deontay Wilder slightly favored today, offering his odds at 1.90, while Tyson Fury is at 2. The equal is at 21.
Hasn't history shown us more often than not that it tends to be the boxer who beats the puncher? Yes I know Wilder is a freak but if Tyson fights like he did against WK (minus the showboating) he can get the job done.. consider that was the worst ring shape Fury ever in the 1st & he still got a draw.. be madness to CONFIDENTLY pick Fury because Wilder has the ultimate equaliser but Fury looks good physically this time, he's the younger & naturally bigger man of the two also.. I won't be shocked at ANY outcome to be honest because these two are both box office & unpredictable.. pulling for a Tyson win
DOUG FISCHER: FURY UD It has tremendous significance in that they are the top two heavyweights in the world recognized by most folks, certainly by Ring Magazine. The vacant Ring heavyweight championship will be on the line. With Fury, the bottom line with him is he needs to feel comfortable, he needs to be confident and if he believes in himself he’s a very, very hard man to beat. Nobody is unbeatable but Fury is really, really difficult when he’s dialed in and motivated. He’s the best ring general in the heavyweight division. He knows how to get through adversity and I think that makes him just as dangerous to Wilder as Wilder’s punching power to him. It’s a fascinating match up, it’s a very hard fight to call. The first fight, I think like most people, I favored Wilder. I thought Fury had taken it too soon. I feel for the rematch Wilder has more momentum, the nature of the knockouts, they were both knockout of the year candidates and the knockout of Luis Ortiz was Ring Magazine knockout of the year for 2019. He has that mojo going into the rematch. Fury is a bit of a stinker, he’s a neutralizer. What I do like is he kept his nose clean, literally and figuratively, kept his weight down, didn’t go off the rails, stayed busy, stayed motivated, stayed positive. I thought Fury won the first fight and I think he’s just as motivated if not more confident in this fight. I slightly favor Fury by decision in a fight that’s maybe not as dramatic. TOM GRAY: FURY UD There’s no need to get fancy here. This is simply red or black in a game of roulette. Tyson Fury by decision or Deontay Wilder by knockout, pay your money and take your choice. I’m going with Fury because he won the last time and dished out the kind of boxing lesson I expected. But Wilder is the hardest puncher in world boxing, if he lands clean it could be over anywhere between Rounds 1 and 12. ANSON WAINWRIGHT: FURY UD A well poised fight, Wilder’s power versus Fury’s skills. Both are must watch every time they fight for different reasons. Fight week should be entertaining with both combatants having larger than life personalities. Each man has had two interim fights since they met in December 2018. At times they looked brilliant but also labored at times but ultimately won them to set up the rematch. Both know firsthand what the other can do and we shall see who that benefits the most. You can never count out Wilder, who is probably the single biggest puncher pound-for-pound in boxing; if he lands, it’s over, well usually. Fury found a way to get up from two knockdowns, particularly a heavy second knockdown the first time around. If it’s an exciting fight that probably doesn’t bode well for Fury. However, I lean toward the Brit, I think he’ll frustrate Wilder for large passages of the fight and this time stay on his feet to win a wide unanimous decision. LEE GROVES: WILDER KO 10 In fight one – which I thought Fury won 115-111 due to his superior ring generalship – “The Gypsy King” showed he had the size, speed, reflexes and resourcefulness to neutralize what Wilder did best. Wilder clearly had problems dealing with the only opponent in his reign that had both height and reach advantages, and those struggles nearly lost him the fight. But here’s the salient point that guides my pick here: Fury fought his best fight and nearly lost thanks to his being floored twice by Wilder’s right hand and Wilder nearly pulled out the KO victory despite fighting one of his worst fights technically. This time, Wilder will have the knowledge gained from having already fought Fury and will now have 12 fresh rounds to land the one punch he needs to take Fury out. Fury will enjoy his moments – and he may well enjoy most of the good moments – but the ticking time bomb that is Wilder’s right fist will detonate sometime, and when it does, it’s lights out. MICHAEL WOODS: WILDER KO 11 I’m leaning Wilder. Nah, tilting, more than leaning. Here’s why . . . Wilder is at peak mental strength. He so believes that he has a nuclear option in that right hand. His motto, “Speak it, believe it, received,” that’s maybe so much new age-y poppycock, which basically summarizes the law of attraction. It was re-packaged as The Secret in 2006 and the book sold 30 million copies. It’s the power of positive thinking…and I think Wilder is a good example of someone who that mindset works for. We will not KNOW until February 23, after midnight on the East Coast, but I do suspect that Fury isn’t as dialed in mentally. Yes, the change in trainers concerns me. That suggests instability…or not. Maybe “The Gypsy King” is on the level and will not be the jerky-jerky defensive master and will shock and amaze us with a power surge to be activated upon Wilder. I’m guessing not. Wilder’s right hand, that nuclear option, gets detonated on Fury, and this time, there won’t be a resurrection. Wilder real-deal KO, Fury doesn’t beat the count, in Round 11. MICHAEL MONTERO: WILDER KO Coming into their first fight, Deontay Wilder was yet to face an elite heavyweight. Fury meanwhile had gone 12 rounds with Wladimir Klitschko, a future hall of famer, three years prior. That experience served him well against Wilder in Los Angeles. Yet the American did plenty of “learning on the job” that night and will now bring that 12 rounds of elite-level experience into the rematch. The question is, who has the momentum here? The answer is: Deontay. Since their first meeting, Wilder “one hitter quittered” Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz, while Fury went up against two unranked journeymen, delved into WWE and switched trainers. I favor Deontay Wilder to squeeze out a close, maybe controversial, points win or possible come-from-behind stoppage in the later rounds. NORM FRAUENHEIM: WILDER TKO 10 Tyson Fury is covering the waterfront of possibilities with predictions and changes. He promises power he’s never displayed. He’s a masterful boxer who predicts he’ll stop the biggest power puncher of the day within two rounds. The idea is to confuse Wilder. Maybe, all of the talk, like all the feints, is working. But a question lingers: What does Fury really intend to do? He has two problems: Scar tissue above his right eye and Wilder’s singular power, which is augmented by his durability. Amid everything Fury has said and is saying, there’s been no doubt about the risk posed by the deep wound he suffered above his right eye against Otto Wallin in September. He needed 47 stitches. He says the cut has healed. But it has yet to be tested by a big punch or a succession of punches. Safe to say, Wilder will target it early and often. Multiplying the risk is Wilder’s toughness. He can take a punch. He proved that in his first fight against Luis Ortiz. It’s an element that allows him to take fights into the later rounds, which means more chances that the lethal right will land. It will. Wilder in a late stoppage.
