Fury promises knockout of Wilder

LAS VEGAS — Tyson Fury understands that the most memorable boxers are also talented promoters, and he has sold his heavyweight trilogy finale against Deontay Wilder with a showman’s flair.

The unbeaten British champion has taunted and tweaked Wilder throughout the buildup to their climactic showdown for the WBC title Saturday night in Las Vegas, usually doing it while shirtless in a bespoke suit jacket. Fury’s confidence and charisma in the fighters’ public meetings throughout the protracted process of getting to this weekend have convinced much of the boxing world they’re about to see another crowning — and one more violent mauling.

“He’s in denial and he’s getting knocked out,” Fury said. “His legacy is in bits. I knocked him out, and now I’m going to retire him.”

Beneath Fury’s promotional theatrics is an undercurrent of frustration, however.

Fury is weary of Wilder’s bizarre antics and a bit annoyed by the boxing machinations that forced him into a third edition of a fight he feels he already won twice. Although Fury is confident in his superior skills, he realizes Wilder’s one-punch power is formidable, leaving him vulnerable to all of his hard work being erased in an instant.

And though Fury (300-1, 21 KOs) will make millions from this pay-perview show at T-Mobile Arena on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, Wilder’s

insistence on holding the rematch prevented Fury from getting the fight he really wanted against fellow British champion Anthony Joshua.

Fury also feels a certain amount of empathy because he believes Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is going through some of the same mental health battles Fury fights every day, problems that threatened to derail his entire career heading into the first fight of this trilogy.

This highly entertaining matchup has already featured two dramatic endings, but Fury is determined to finish the whole thing with an authority that will stamp him as the most accomplished heavyweight of this era.

“We’re expecting nothing less than a knockout,” said Sugarhill Steward, Fury’s trainer.