WILDER v FURY
IT’S ALL OR NOTHING SAYS THE GYPSY KING
TYSON FURY will go back to Morecambe and forget about boxing if he loses to Deontay Wilder.
The Gypsy King is in no doubt he will claim the WBC heavyweight title at the MGM Grand in the early hours of Sunday.
Confident? You bet. So confident he labelled his first fight with the Alabama big hitter as “one of the easiest” of his career.
He dismissed the power of Wilder, which has knocked out 41 opponents, and put his unbeaten status down to a “padded” record.
It was a scathing attack on the American from the Manchesterborn fighter who now lives in the seaside town of Morecambe.
There is a clause in the contract for this fight which allows the loser to trigger a third meeting in the summer, but Fury insists he won’t be taking the option if he loses his own unbeaten record.
He said: “I am not putting pressure on myself, but if I cannot beat Deontay Wilder, then I am no good.
“I won’t go down as a great or a champion. I will go back to Morecambe and never sniff boxing again in my life.
“I will be s**t, total s**t. “That is how confident I am of kicking him all over that ring.
from CHRIS McKENNA in Las Vegas
There is no losing and if he wants a rematch, then he will lose again.”
Fury survived two knockdowns against the Bronze Bomber but outboxed him for large parts of their December 2018 fight, only for the judges to deem it a draw.
It came after two bouts against weak opposition following three years out for Fury, during which he ballooned in weight and admitted to substance abuse and mental health problems.
“I’m not going to pussyfoot about the matter – Wilder was one of the easiest fights I’ve ever had,” said Fury. “Apart from the two knockdowns, it was a lopsided, one-sided mis-match.
“It was an easy fight, with strength, boxing ability, everything, apart from the two knockdowns that I didn’t see. I’ve been involved in much harder fights all the way through my career.
“Did I expect any more from him? He was exactly what I expected – a limited boxer with immense power. And I knew that before because he had 40-odd knockouts on his record.
“The only good man he has ever faced was me and I beat him after three years out and as weak as a robin at 17st 11lb and with two shoulders on me like coat-hangers. He still could not beat me then.
“Wilder is not going to beat me, his power is not going to hurt me, it will bounce off me like I am bulletproof.”
And the British star dismissed the right hand which has hurt so many foes, after taking the full force of it in their Los Angeles clash just 14 months ago.
Only Fury and Bermane Stiverne, who was knocked out inside a round in a rematch, have gone the distance with Wilder.
It has led to the WBC champion casting himself as the hardest hitter in heavyweight history.
But Fury said: “He has only had probably seven competitive fights, where people have actually tried to fight back. The rest were duck egg dummies, only there to fall over.
“I have always been in fights that I could lose, that is the difference between me and Wilder.
“Over here fighters get built to 20-0 by beating opponents who don’t fight back. Wilder’s KO power and ratio is padded. I look at Wilder’s resume and he has fought a few former football players, a few has-beens and a load of bums.”