Tyson Fury Goes For The Final Nail In Deontay Wilder’s Coffin

On Sunday morning, in a few hours’ time, at the T-Mobile Arenala, in Paradise, Nevada in the US, World Boxing Council’s Heavyweight Champion, Tyson Fury will put his belt on the line for the third fight against ex-Champion Deontay Wilder. It promises to be a great fight by two modern day Heavyweight contenders.

For lovers of the sweet science of boxing, this is one fight that is most likely to produce only one winner in all certainty, except the unexpected happens.

Going by the results of their two previous encounters, this fight is tailor made for the self- style gypsy king and it is his to win or lose.

In their first encounter which ended in a controversial draw, Wilder was demystified as a one dimension fighter who can only hit hard at sitting or standing ducks: especially those who stood in awe of his frightful power. Tyson Fury is not a fan of his and he is not afraid of him or any boxer for that matter.

Give Wilder a confident, determined and smart boxer who can look him in the eyes and he will have his hands full.
This chink in his armoury would be exploited to the fullest in the second encounter by Fury. That fight also exposed two other inherent flaws in the Bronze Bomber: he has no legs, like Tommy Hearns and his jaws, like that of AJ, can not hold out against consistent pressure from an opportunistic boxer like Tyson Fury.

So what are the probable outcomes of this fight?

One, it is unlikely that Deontay Wilder will defeat a fit and focused Tyson Fury. Except of course Fury lied about his preparation for this fight in which case the joke will be on him.

Secondly, this fight will not last the distance because both fighters are going into the ring at their heaviest weights in their illustrious careers.
But while the additional weight is okay for Fury because of his uncanny ability to throw his weight about and use it to tire his opponents, Wilder will suffer to carry the extra bulk that he is unfamiliar with.

In the real sense of it, Wilder does not need the extra bulk to win a fight against a garrulous boxer whose off the gym lifestyle easily gives away as an unserious professional. This writer thinks that extra focus, precision/timing, hunger and a game plan would serve a better purpose than a chiselled body.

Recall also that in their thirties, both boxers are not reaally in their primes, their reflexes are dull so they will be easy targets for each other. This may work in favour of Wilder though as he is more consistent at deliverying knockout punches from the pits of hell (42-1-1, 41 KOs) as against Fury’s (30-0-1, 21 KOs)

Thirdly, Wilder has nothing new to offer in this fight so the odds are stacked high against him. Mentally, he is on a downward spiral, something that is evident from his ill-advised action of sacking one of his handlers. He is also coming from the first defeat of his career, a phenomenon which most great fighters before him struggled to internalise. Think George Foreman, Sony Liston and Roy Jones junior to get the drift.

To be clear, all the excuses from the comprehensive beating he suffered in the last fight clearly exposes Wilder’s state of mental fragility. Ideally, this is one fight he should not be rushing into.
Rather, two or three fights to clear the cobwebs in his head should have helped to put him in a better frame of mind because this leap of faith could most likely turn out the biggest undoing of his career; and things can only go downhill from there.

Prediction? Tyson Fury wins by knocking out Deontay Wilder in round eight, or earlier. But in boxing however, you never can tell. One mistake, and the rest is history!