Trainers explain how Deontay Wilder can overcome Tyson Fury's height and reach advantages

When Tyson Fury walked onto the floor at Staples Center to watch a Los Angeles Lakers game a few weeks ago, it was one of the few places he went where he doesn’t stand out in the crowd. The 6-foot-9 lineal heavyweight champion is almost always head and shoulders bigger than anyone he shares the ring with.

That won’t change Saturday when Fury faces Deontay Wilder, the 6-foot-7 WBC heavyweight champion, in a Showtime Pay-Per-View card in Los Angeles.

Fury is the tallest opponent Wilder has faced, with the longest reach. Fury has a two-inch edge in both height and reach on Wilder.

Wilder is the largest world-class opponent Fury has met. Wladimir Klitschko, at 6-6 with an 81-inch reach, was an inch shorter with two inches less reach than Wilder.

Facing such a large opponent creates a challenge.

“It will make a difference for both of them,” said Ben Davison, Fury’s trainer.

Johnathon Banks was in Klitschko’s corner on the night Klitschko lost the heavyweight title to Fury after nearly a decade as champion. Fury kept Klitschko at the end of his jab that night in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Klitschko wasn’t able to adjust until it was far too late.

Banks, who said he expects an outstanding fight, said there will be challenges Wilder will have to adapt to in going against a taller opponent.

“He’s going to be punching up, instead of punching down like he normally does, and no way that is his forte,” Banks said of Wilder. “That will change the dynamic, without question.”

Fury is a good boxer with unusually good footwork and movement for a man his size. So that will create an additional issue for Wilder, who not only will have to be punching at a different angle than he normally does but will have to contend with a guy who moves like one much smaller.

Trainer Abel Sanchez, who has 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce fighting on the undercard, said the footwork is a more significant issue than the height and reach alone.

“When you’re used to being the taller guy and having an advantage in reach and all of a sudden it’s reversed, it’s going to have some impact on the fight,” Sanchez said. “But it’s more than just that in this particular fight. Fury is an awkward guy and he has very good foot movements. When we think of those really big heavyweights, traditionally we think of someone like [ex-WBA champion Nikolai] Valuev, who was huge and had a massive reach, but he was a guy who was kind of robotic and pretty stationary most of the time.

“Fury is mobile and awkward and it’s going to take some time to adjust to that.”

Sanchez said that Wilder is good enough to make the adjustments needed. While he said he thinks Fury is a better boxer, he doesn’t believe Wilder is just a one-dimensional slugger.

Wilder can box, too, Sanchez said.

“He didn’t get to win an Olympic bronze medal and be 40-0 [as a pro] … without being able to box,” Sanchez said.

Yet, if Sanchez were advising him, he’d tell Wilder to make it a fight instead of a boxing match.

“He has to disrespect Fury and go in without trying to box,” Sanchez said. “Put the pressure on him, throw punches in combinations and make him defend. We know that Wilder has that one-punch knockout power, but we’re not sure if Fury does. Fury needs to throw that jab and just be busy, fighting bigger, taller and throwing a lot of combinations and not worrying about any one thing in particular.

“In my opinion, if Wilder gets in there and he attacks and doesn’t show Fury a lot of respect, he’ll force a mistake and that’s when he’ll be able to take advantage of it.”

Banks knows Wilder well, because he recommended to the late Emanuel Steward that Steward hire Wilder as a sparring partner for Klitschko not long after Wilder turned pro in 2008. Steward soon became a fan of Wilder’s talent and was bullish on his future.

Banks agreed with Sanchez that pressure will be key for Wilder.

“I remember Emanuel telling Wladimir that Deontay was a kid to look out for and that he’d be the heavyweight champion of the world given his punching power and how aggressive he was,” Banks said. “That’s a big thing in this fight: You know Wilder is coming and coming hard from the first bell. A guy like Fury can box, and he’s going to have to move out of the way, but it’s going to be like that round after round.

“Deontay doesn’t have that finesse in his game now, but it’s something he can pick up. He’s a pure power guy and that power and rage he brings, how he gets out there and goes after it, it just makes him so difficult. He’s a guy who fights like he never wants to hear that bell in the 12th. He has that kill-or-be-killed attitude and he’s shown he can get himself up and back after he’s been hurt. He’s not going to quit and that makes him so dangerous.”

Wilder trainer Jay Deas didn’t concern himself too much with Fury’s height and reach. Because Fury moves so well, being prepared for that was a focus.

Wilder, who didn’t put on gloves for the first time until he was 20, has become very shrewd and understands the game at a high level, Deas said.

“Typically, Deontay doesn’t fight people as tall as he is, but he always fights people heavier than himself,” Deas said. “That’s never been an issue. As far as preparation, we felt that because of Fury’s athleticism, we were better off bringing [in] guys who maybe weren’t as tall, but were very athletic. [Fury’s] prevailing attribute is the athleticism, more so than his height.

“It’s been great to see Deontay’s growth over the years. His boxing IQ and maturity level have come so far.”

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