By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will be defending his crown against undefeated Tyson Fury of England in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, February 22nd. The 12-round bout is a rematch of their Dec. 2018 tilt which ended in a controversial draw. The fight can be seen in America on Fox and ESPN pay-per-view platforms while those in the UK can catch it on BT Sports Box Office. Wilder last fought in November when he stopped Luis Ortiz in the seventh round of their rematch. Fury’s last outing was in September when he was cut for 47 stitches over the right eye but won a 12-round unanimous decision over Otto Wallin.
The 34-year-old Wilder beat former champ Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision in January, 2015 to claim the WBC title and he’s been the champ ever since with this being his 11th defence. Before running into Stiverne, Wilder had stopped all 32 of his opponents including Malik Scott, Owen Beck and Audley Harrison. The Bronze Bomber will climb into the ring with a fine record of 42-0-1 along with 41 Kos. 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 known for two things, which are his size and his power. He stands 6-feet-7-inches tall with an 83-inch reach and has stopped every man he’s faced except Fury and Stiverne in their first meeting. However, he stopped Stiverne with a second remaining in the first round of their November 2017 rematch and dropped Fury in the ninth and 12th rounds during their draw in their first meeting. Therefore, Wilder has dropped every opponent he’s faced as a pro. He has 143 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and his knockout ratio currently stands at a highly-impressive 95.4 per cent.
Just six of his 41 KO victims have made it past the fifth round. However, they were six of his last 10 opponents; Luis Ortiz (twice), Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Chris Arreola. So in general, Wilder’s fights are lasting longer than they were earlier in his career even though he destroyed Dominic Breazeale in 137 seconds last May. As for the ability to take a punch, Wilder was nailed by Ortiz in their first fight and by Fury, but showed resilience and a lot of heart.
The 31-year-old Fury of Manchester, will technically be defending his lineal title on Saturday night. He looked impressive against Wilder in their first outing even though he was decked twice along the way. He needed to look good though since he was terrible when stopping Sefer Seferi after the fourth round in June, 2018 and in his 10-round decision over Francesco Pianeta two months later. He did what he had to against Wilder, but his questionable chin possibly turned a victory into a draw.
But other than his bout against Wilder, Fury has achieved just one other moment of glory as a pro boxer and that came in November, 2015 when he upset Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBO, IBO, WBA and lineal world titles. However, it was arguably the worst heavyweight title fight in history. After beating Klitschko, Fury was soon stripped of his belts and suspended for drug use, but still does lay claim to the lineal heavyweight crown.
Fury is one of the bigger heavyweights out there as he stands 6-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 85 inches which gives him a two-inch edge in height and reach over Wilder. He’ll enter the ring with a mark of 29-0-1 with 20 Kos and has 186 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 following a good amateur career. He has better-than-average power, at least on paper, with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent but has gone the distance in four of his last six outings. Fury possesses some good but awkward and unconventional boxing skills and also been been dropped by Steve Cunningham and Neven Pajkic.
Fury’s biggest win was obviously against Klitschko but Klitschko basically gave his titles away by not engaging with him. Other than that, Fury has beaten some pretty good journeymen along the way such as Pianeta, Christian Hammer, Dereck Chisora (twice), Joey Abell, Cunningham, Kevin Johnson, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento and Vinny Maddalone. Since turning pro Fury has also captured the English, Commonwealth, British, Irish, European, WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
Prediction…
Fury parted ways with former trainer Ben Davison in December and is now under the tutelage of Sugar Hill Steward. But unless Steward has transformed Fury’s chin into granite he’s still going to be susceptible to Wilder’s power. Fury will try to use his style and size once again and will likely stay away from a firefight since he’s always at risk if he stands his ground and fights. In a way though, his chin has probably helped him perfect his movement and boxing skills but he’s always vulnerable to a flush power punch. Wilder needs to wade in and land as many heavy shots as he can or he’ll be outboxed. It’s easier said than done though against Fury. This fight could go either way and another draw isn’t out of the question. However, if somebody does win this time I don’t think it’ll be controversial. Fury will either simply outbox or stop Wilder or Wilder will knock Fury cold. I’m leaning towards the latter on Saturday night.
