Wilder faces his legitimate heavyweight equal in Fury

Deontay Wilder has waited a decade for the chance to pick on somebody his own size. Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) is the most accomplished American heavyweight boxer of his era, a superb athlete with vicious punching power and a reckless streak. The Olympic medallist has stopped every man who ever stepped in the professional ring with him, following up his lone decision victory with a knockout in the first round of the rematch. Yet even the 32-year-old Wilder agrees he had never fought anyone approaching his own stature — not in physical size, but in boxing achievement — until quite recently. He has built his career with sometimes confounding deliberateness, taking his time to learn the sport he only picked up as a 20-year-old after moving on from football and basketball in his native Alabama. “Everybody has their appointed time,” Wilder said this week. “My time is now.” When Wilder steps into the Staples Center ring to defend his WBC title against Britain’s Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) on Saturday night, he finally has the right opponent on the right stage at the right moment. Fury is the lineal champion of the heavyweight division, thanks to his shocking victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, and his showdown with Wilder is probably the most important heavyweight bout since. The pay-per-view Hollywood spotlight encapsulates everything Wilder has craved for years. “So much emotion is running through my body right now,” Wilder said. “I was ready for this 10 weeks ago.” The six-foot-seven American is actually the smaller man in this bout against the six-foot-nine Fury, whose pure bulk obscures his nimble feet and excellent technique. Fury has enough fame and success in boxing-mad England to match up favourably outside the ring with Wilder, and the Manchester native sees this matchup in quite different terms. “Wilder needs me, make no mistake,” Fury said. “I’ve been looking for somebody to knock me out my whole life. I haven’t found him yet. I don’t think I’ll find him Saturday night.”