Wild’ and Fury-ous
Big heavyweight bout promises to be giant battle
If size matters, then the Dec. 1 showdown between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury for the WBC and lineal heavyweight championships should be worth the hype.
The 6-foot-9 Fury and the 6-7 Wilder met face-toface on the Flight Deck at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on Tuesday, promising to knock each other out when the two giants of the heavyweight division meet in the Showtime pay-per-view event at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t come all this way to be beaten by this skinny runt,” said Fury, the Englishman, who is 27-0 with 19 knockouts. “I’m going to make him quit. I’m going to make him feel what it’s like to fight a real champion.”
Said Wilder: “Not only am I going to show up. I’m going to show up and show out. If this is what you’ve been waiting for, it’s going to be worth the wait. I’m going to knock him out, point-blank, period.”
Wilder, 40-0 with 39 knockouts, will be putting his WBC belt on the line in the biggest bout of his ca- reer. The native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., had been chasing a unification bout with multiple-belt holder Anthony Joshua of England, who wouldn’t agree to terms with Wilder.
Enter Fury, who remains the lineal heavyweight champion, having been the first to defeat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. Fury was then sidelined for 2½ years as he battled drug addiction and depression.
He has had two fights since his comeback, retiring Sefer Seferi in the fourth round in June and earning a one-sided decision over Francesco Planeta in Belfast last August.
“I’m coming into this fight match-fit,” said Fury, who revealed he had to lose 100-plus pounds in preparation for the Klitschko fight. “This time I’m going in off two fights. You’ll see the best Tyson Fury.”
Fury and Wilder agreed to face each other after Joshua wouldn’t come to agreement to fight the WBC champion and instead defended his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles against Alexander Povetkin of Russia last month at Wembley Stadium. Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) won by seventh-round knockout.
Wilder-Fury proved a much easier fight to make, with the Englishman willing to challenge Wilder in his home country when Fury could sell 60,000 to 90,000 tickets fighting in the United Kingdom.
This will be Fury’s first fight in the United States since 2013, when he was knocked down in the second round by Philadelphia native Steve Cunningham, but rallied to win by TKO in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden Theater.
“I want to go behind enemy lines and fight them in their own country,” said Fury, who claimed the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO belts when he earned a unanimous decision over Klitschko in 2015 in Germany. “I want to win the WBC belt and finish my collection off.”
The fight should feature a contrast of styles. Fury is a boxer-puncher who moves well for his size. He works behind his jab, using movement and sometimes awkward footwork, to deliver power shots to the head and body. Wilder is more of headhunter, who paws with his jab looking to land a big right hand.
“He’s got a puncher’s chance, but I don’t believe he’ll land it,” Fury said.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday at AXS.com, starting at $75.