Wilder vs Fury II
In late February, we get to see Deontay Wilder and Tyson fury clash once again in their much-anticipated rematch. Their first fight ended in a controversial draw which saw Fury out-box Wilder but was floored at the end of the fight with no one knowing how he made his miraculous rise back to his feet. So, what will happen this time?
In its simplest analysis, if the fight goes the distance, Fury takes the victory. However, ifthe fight ends within the distance, I see Wilder taking it. Let’s look a little deeper at what each fighter needs to do to win – in my view anyway. In the first fight, Fury used his awkward style to bemuse Wilder and keep him off balance. Fury would fake jab, move in(using the fake jab as cover) and land his second or third jab. The fake jabs were camouflaged with bobbing and stuttering and when he saw the opportunity, he would throw the real jab. Fury’s punches do not fall into the ‘conventional’ category, coming at his opponents from weird angles. What’s more, is that there is no shoulder or hip rotation to telegraph the punch. As Fury is so evasive, he catches you with little shots when you miss, adding up as the fight progresses. Fury was very aware of Wilder’s knock out power and avoided the big shots right up until the last round and then got caught with two massive bombs.
It would make sense for Fury to keep Wilder off balance with his awkward style. Wilder isn’t much of a defensive fighter; his head movement isn’t anything of note and he takes shots on his gloves or manages to keep people away with his long arms. Wilder is not a counter puncher so this may sound strange,but Fury should keep the pressure on and use his defensive skills to avoid shots and hit Wilder. This will also make Wilder throw more punches than he wants and at times that are not of his choosing – which all adds up to Fury controlling the fight. As the rounds tick by, Wilder will get increasingly wild (excuse the pun), assuming Fury can keep calm and strict,this seems like a path to victory for him.
After observing the first fight, the path to victory for Wilder is centred around setting the pace and controlling the distance. Wilder cannot let Fury walk in without giving him some sort of punishment – whether that be with punches or at the very least, the threat of punches. Wilder has very long arms and should pump out the jab all night long. This is mostly to keep Fury off balance. In this situation, Wilder should look to throw that right hand but not 100% power, then, if he lands, he can go in for the kill. This means Wilder is looking to land punches generally,rather than just trying to land the fight ending punch which Fury can see a mile away. Wilder should be concerned about putting fist to face, not fist to face with the intent of landing him on the canvas. Wilder needs more discipline and to follow the process. Discipline will be the hardest part for Wilder as in each of his previous fights, the power shots and getting wild is what got him the win. But all those other opponents are not Tyson Fury so he needs to be smarter in the rematch.
Picking a winner is hard but if I had to put money on the fight, I would go with Fury. In the first fight, he clearly out-boxed Wilder then got caught. Based on that, Fury is the better boxer and he should put on a boxing clinic in the rematch. Wilder on the other hand only has to land that big punch of his and it’s lights out. Wilder has proven to be one of the biggest punches in heavyweight history with his 41 knockouts so you are never safe against him. Whatever happens, just like the first fight, it is rare to find two undefeated heavyweight champions going head to head. This has not happened since Tyson v Spinks back in 1988. Whatever you think about the first fight, it was memorable and let’s hope that the second fight is just as good.
To finish a little word about Joseph Parker; one of the reasons his career has stalled is that he still thinks he is a draw. This means that when negotiating with an opponent, Parker wants 70% of the total prize money and no one outside of his management team think he is worth that. That is why his fights keep falling over. Hopefully this year he will get some fights and be back near the top but he needs to change his attitude first.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructo