Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

DEONTAY WILDER VS TYSON FURY

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Fury and Wilder will fight in Los Angeles this weekend. What time does Saturday’s fight start and what is our prediction?

What is it?

Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury, WBC American champion vs British lineal champion, in a world heavyweigh­t clash. Both fighters go into the fight unbeaten in their combined 67 profession­al bouts in a fight expected to be watched by millions across the US and the world.when is it? This weekend. Saturday, December 1, 2018 (but Sunday December 2 in the UK). Where is it?

Staples Center (Los Angeles). Despite the fight being announced in mid-august, it took until the end of September for confirmati­on of the host venue, with Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Convention Centre the other possibilit­y.

Wilder has yet to feature at the Staples Center during his 40-fight career, while Fury’s only previous appearance across the pond came at Madison Square Garden, New York City, where he defeated American Steve Cunningham in 2013, lifting himself off the canvas in arguably his most exciting fight yet to record a seventh round KO.

In addition to the NHL’S LA Kings, the 21,000-capacity multi-purpose arena is home to the NBA’S LA Lakers and LA Clippers, and has previously hosted boxing hall of famers such as Oscar De La Hoya, Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis. What TV channel will it be on?

In the UK, the fight will be aired live on BT Sport Box Office, which is available across BT, Sky and Virgin Media. Paying viewers will be able to watch the fight on the BT Sport website.

In the US, Showtime will be broadcasti­ng the event, likewise on their pay-per-view platform, with more informatio­n on their coverage here.

You can find out more about how to watch here.what time is the fight likely to start? As always, these big fights are at the mercy of the under card and how long the build-up takes. But we expect it to begin at 5am GMT on Sunday December 2.

For whose watching in the United States, it will be 9pm local time or midnight EST.WHAT is the latest news?

Deontay Wilder believes that by beating Luis Ortiz he has already had the best possible preparatio­n for Tyson Fury. The WBC heavyweigh­t champion defends his title against Fury on Saturday at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in what is widely considered his most difficult challenge.

Those that believe Fury will win do so because of his variety and boxing IQ, but by overcoming Cuba’s Ortiz - a fighter Wilder believes possesses similar strengths the American insists he learned how to win against an undefeated opponent who outfoxed even the great Wladimir Klitschko.

Wilder had had to recover from a heavy knockdown before responding to stop the then highly-rated Ortiz in the 10th round, and even if he believes he will have to rely on figuring out Fury on fight night, he told Press Associatio­n Sport: “Ortiz is more experience­d; he’s been fighting just as long as Fury, if not longer. Deontay Wilder defeats Ortiz in March “He’s definitely got way more amateur experience the Cubans, that’s what they do. I’ve got so much confidence I’ve knocked out the number two guy, and now I’m going for the number three. I’m not going to be denied. It’s just a different height.

“Fury’s awkward; any awkward fighter is going to be a tough fight it’s one of those things when you just have to figure him out.

If it’s with a less awkward opponent you have a grasp of what you need to do to get to him, with an awkward fighter you really can’t think about it.

“You have to get in the ring and adjust. Every awkward fighter it always took me a long time to get them out of there.

This fight has been manifestin­g for five or six years.”who is Deontay Wilder? Wilder, 32, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and had a tough upbringing.

The ‘Bronze Bomber’ picked up boxing relatively late, as a 20 year old, when he sought to provide support for his daughter who was born with spina bifida a spinal cord injury. He now has four children and is expecting a fifth later this year.

Despite his amateur career only beginning in 2005, Wilder won bronze at the Beijing 2008 Olympics while representi­ng the US. He turned profession­al later that year as a 23 year old and after a spectacula­r rise through the profession­al ranks, became WBC world champion in 2015.

Fury’s younger brother Marcellos Wilder also competes as a profession­al boxer. Deontay Wilder throws a punch towards Bermane Stiverne during their fight in November last year.

Who is Tyson Fury?

The self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’, Fury is a fighter proud of his Irish traveler heritage. He follows a long line of family fighting, with his dad John Fury competing as a bareknuckl­e boxer in the 1980s, his cousin Andy Lee a former WBO middleweig­ht champion, and another cousin Hughie Fury the current British heavyweigh­t champion. Despite growing to his now mammoth stature of 6ft 9, Fury tipped the scales at only 1lb when he was born in Wythenshaw­e, Manchester, after being three months premature.

The now 30 year old was named after famous American heavyweigh­t Mike Tyson, and went on to represent both England and Ireland in an amateur career that spanned 35 fights.

Aged 20, Fury turned profession­al in 2008, remaining unbeaten to eventually earn his shot at Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, where he recorded one of the most unexpected triumphs in British boxing history, claiming a points victory to win the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, Ring and lineal heavyweigh­t titles. Since the highest point of his career, Fury has struggled with personal and mental health problems, courting controvers­y by failing a drugs test; having his titles stripped and boxing license revoked, openly confessing his use of cocaine to deal with depression; and making ill-advised remarks around issues of abortion, transgende­r and women’s rights. In 2018, Fury is now on the comeback trail, with his two return fights coming in victories against relatively lowly opposition of Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta.

(DAILY MAIL)

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