By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will be defending his crown against unbeaten former world champ Tyson Fury of Manchester, England at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California this Saturday, Dec. 1st. The contest can be seen live in the UK on BT Sport Box Office while American fans can catch it on Showtime PPV and Canadians can see it live on PPV. Wilder last fought in March when he stopped Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz in the 10th round. Fury’s last outing was a 10-round points decision over Francesco Pianeta.
Wilder beat former WBC champ Bermane Stiverne on points in January, 2015 to claim the title and he’s been the champion ever since. Before running into Stiverne, Wilder had stopped all 32 of his opponents including Malik Scott, Owen Beck and Audley Harrison. The 33-year-old Bronze Bomber will climb into the ring with a perfect record of 40-0 along with 39 Kos and will be defending his title for the eighth time.
Wilder is a former Olympic bronze medalist who became the first American since Shannon Briggs in 2007 to own a portion of the heavyweight title when he beat Stiverne. Wilder is basically best known for two things, which are his size and his power. He stands 6-feet-7-inches tall, has an 83-inch reach, and has stopped every man he’s faced since he stopped Stiverne with a second remaining in the first round in in their November 2017 rematch.
The champion has 123 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and his knockout ratio currently stands at an incredible 98 per cent. Just six of his 38 KO victims have made it past the fourth round. However, they were six of his last seven opponents; Ortiz, Gerald Washington, Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Chris Arreola. So even though he destroyed Stiverne in less than three minutes in November, Wilder’s fights are generally lasting longer. Wilder was nailed by Ortiz in March, but showed he has an excellent chin and a lost of heart against the Cuban slugger.
The 30-year-old Fury fought in June for the first time since November, 2015 when he stopped Sefer Seferi after the fourth round. He then took on Pianeta and didn’t look good in either bout. He has achieved one moment of glory as a professional boxer though and that came in November of 2015 when he upset Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBO, IBO, WBA and lineal world titles, but was then stripped of the belts and suspended for drug use.
Fury is one of the bigger heavyweights out there as he stands 6-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 85 inches. This gives him a two-inch edge in both height and reach over Wilder. Fury enters the ring with a perfect mark of 27-0 along with 19 Kos and has 160 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008. He has better-than-average power, at least on paper, with a current knockout ratio of 70 per cent. Fury possesses some decent, but awkward and unconventional boxing skills and also has a questionable chin as he’s been dropped by Steve Cunningham and Neven Pajkic.
Fury’s biggest win was obviously against Klitschko, but it was a terrible fight for the fans and Klitschko basically gave his titles away by not engaging with Fury. Other than that, Fury has beaten some pretty good journeymen along the way such as Pianeta, Christian Hammer, Dereck Chisora, Joey Abell, Steve Cunningham, Kevin Johnson, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento and Vinny Maddalone. Since turning pro after a fine amateur career, Fury has also captured the English, Commonwealth, British, Irish, European, WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
Prediction…
Neither boxer has traditional skills as they both have awkward, but effective styles. Wilder definitely has the edge in power and can also take a punch better than Fury. But on the flip side, Fury could possibly confuse and frustrate the champion with his style and slight size advantage. The biggest difference between the two boxers is their excitement level. Wilder has thrilled the fans on a few occasions while Fury typically puts them to sleep. Fury moves around the ring pretty well for a big fella and that’s usually because he’s not confident in his chin. I just don’t think Fury has the power to do damage to Wilder and hasn’t stopped anyone of note other than Steve Cunningham and that was with a borderline illegal shot. If Wilder lands on Fury’s chin then Fury’s going down for the count. But if he doesn’t then it’s a tossup. Wilder could also win on points since Fury usually focuses on not getting hit rather than attacking, which is what makes hum such a dull fighter. I’ll go with Wilder here.
