WARREN IN WARNING OVER FURY FACE-OFF
THE shoves and menaces which ended with Tyson Fury stripping to the waist and raising his fists at Deontay Wilder are threatening to cause the cancellation of a second face-off.
A decision on whether these two giants will be allowed to go nose-to-nose at the weigh-in before tomorrow’s world heavyweight title fight is to be taken by the California State Athletic Commission.
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren, who was shoved aside by one of Wilder’s team, said: ‘This needs thinking about. Where was the security? We pose these head-to-heads for the cameramen. If it becomes a problem, why do it? I worry that one of them may get a cut eye and the fight would be off.’
If the head-to-head is prohibited on this occasion, it could save Fury from himself. The Gypsy King was almost refused a US visa following a previous heated confrontation at a Wilder fight in New York on the grounds that he might cause a riot.
Had it been denied, this megamillion-dollar fight would have been scuppered. The latest kerfuffle — even if it was in part staged to help sell the last tickets — will be viewed dimly here.
A repetition could affect Fury’s status in the US, where he is thinking of boxing most of the rest of his career. Not that it was him who provoked the scuffle. Wilder was the more agitated and this is leading some observers to conclude that Fury is getting inside Wilder’s head, as he did with Wladimir Klitschko before pulling off his upset in Germany in 2015.
‘Tyson’s definitely getting to him,’ said Warren. ‘He’s very good at the mental side, but, then, he’s a very intelligent boxer. He studies his opponents. He knew Klitschko’s flaws. And Wladimir was a more accomplished boxer than Wilder.
‘Tyson’s a boxing encyclopaedia. He studies all the great fighters and learns from them. ‘The only thing we don’t know is if he’s still got it in him after the long lay-off. We can’t know that until they get in the ring. But I know that if he’s even 80 per cent of the boxer who beat Klitschko, he will beat this guy. ‘Both Tyson and Deontay have already left Anthony Joshua in their slipstream. While they’re manning up as champions, we all know who AJ’s fighting next.’
Wilder, meanwhile, refutes the allegation that he is nervous. He says: ‘If Fury and his team think the shouting was a sign of weakness, then I can’t wait to show them my strength on Saturday.
‘Actually they’re just talking from fear. I can always smell the fear. And they should be afraid. I am a very dangerous person. He’s never been hit before by anyone with my power.’
Wilder v Fury will be live late tomorrow night on BT Sport Box Office.