Tyson Fury plans to 'smash Deontay Wilder to bits' in trilogy showdown
The big picture for British boxing as Tyson Fury defends the World Boxing Council heavyweight title against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas next Saturday is that if the Alabamian claims the belt back from his Lancastrian rival, control of the heavyweight division is ceded to the United States and Ukraine.
In the wake of Anthony Joshua being dethroned as a three-belt champion last weekend by Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fury carries the hope of fans into the ring in Sin City given that the reality of a defeat moves the all-British blockbuster a long way further from taking place any time soon. Rightly, Fury is insistent that his only focus is Wilder, who he sees as “still the most dangerous fighter” in the heavyweight division.
John Fury, the boxer’s father, who has an input into the strategy for his son’s contests and remains a forthright and highly knowledgeable figure on the sport, believes his son was “genuinely wounded” for Joshua in defeat.
“Tyson knows how Joshua will be feeling after that, and you don’t knock a man when he is down,” he said. “What Tyson said last week about his rival came from the heart. He was genuinely wounded for Joshua. The big lad knows he can do better against Usyk, and if he changes certain things, he can. We can all get it wrong, and have a bad day.
“It’s like for Tyson now. We believe he will beat Wilder, and beat him well – by stoppage – but that doesn’t mean Wilder isn’t dangerous. The big thing about Wilder is that he has not been able to accept the defeat to Tyson, coming up with a list of excuses. What you have to say about Joshua, unlike Wilder, is that he accepts his loss straightaway, and moves on. That is a mark of the man, and you have to admire that in him. I know Tyson does.”
Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank, Fury’s promoters in Nevada, where the boxer is now licensed, has another view on Fury-Joshua in the future. In London this week for talks with Sky Sports, with whom Top Rank now has a long-term fight deal, duBoef said: “Joshua may have lost, but there is still a big fight there with Fury, with or without the belts. They have come up on the same trajectory in the division and it’s still a match-up we need to see in this era. We have a new figure in the division in Usyk, as a result of his victory over Joshua, and that is no bad thing. But we believe Fury will come through this test and, who knows, Joshua may well win in the rematch. Then we will be planning that all-British fight again that so many sports fans want to see. The history of the division shows that you can lose, come back, and be great again.”
For Tyson Fury himself, the trilogy fight with Wilder cannot come soon enough. They fought to a dramatic, controversial split draw in Los Angeles in December 2018, and then Fury claimed the WBC belt in a dominant stoppage victory in the seventh round, 20 months ago.
Neither has stepped into a ring since, and the bout has been postponed four times. This third contest was ordered by a judge in an arbitration case which ruled that Wilder had the contractual rights to a rematch. That itself, in June this year, scuppered six months of negotiations and an estimated £200 million showdown between Fury and Joshua for all the heavyweight belts, which had been scheduled for Saudi Arabia in August. Fury has undergone four training camps since his thrilling victory in Las Vegas in February 2020.
“I’m very excited. I’m looking forward to this fight. I’m very motivated, focused, and determined and I can’t wait for October 9,” explained Fury. “One more week until I get these big hands on Wilder for a third time. It’s one of the few heavyweight trilogies since Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. I’m going to go all guns blazing, full-out attack, all for victory, from round one. It’s either going to be me or Wilder. I’m in the best shape of my life and injury-free.”
Fury appeared heartfelt in his views on Joshua’s performance against Usyk, but pointed out on a global media call that it was also none of his concern as he had other things on his mind. Namely, facing the former WBC champion Wilder, who has 41 knockouts in 44 fights, a record KO percentage in the heavyweight division, and, prior to the three-year engagement with Fury, had defended the WBC belt 10 times.
“It’s none of my concern about where the belts are as long as my belt is strapped around my waist. The rest of them, I don’t care where they go because there’s only one man that can bring them all back and that’s me,” said Fury. “There has only ever been one, and that’s me. I’m sick of saying it. There has only ever been one, and there can only ever be one, and that is me.”
Fury, though, senses that his opponent’s inability to accept the defeat last year exposes his rival as mentally more fragile.
“I don’t really make much of the excuses that were flying around for so long, the things he blamed the defeat on,” Fury said. “I think they just made him a weaker character and less of a man and less of a fighter, because when you get beat, you get beat. Shake the man’s hand and move on. Lots of fighters have lost. Muhammad Ali lost fights, Mike Tyson lost fights. It’s what they do after they lose that makes them who they are. I hope he brings a better fight because our last fight was disappointing, to say the least. I trained for an absolute war, and it was a one-sided beatdown. I’m taking over Vegas again and I plan to smash Deontay Wilder to bits …. and I will.”
BT Sport Box Office will show Fury v Wilder: The Trilogy exclusively live in the UK on Sat, Oct 9. For more info go to www.bt.com/sportboxoffice
