The stage is set for the global boxing fandom to witness one of its most hyped and awaited fights of this generation and possibly one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport, as Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder step inside the squared circle for the third time. Fury, having broken Wilder’s win streak in the rematch, clinched the top spot in the division as the new WBC heavyweight titlist, and will be defending that title against its previous owner on 9th October at the famed T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
The fight, billed as “Once and for All”, will truly, once and for all, draw the conclusion between the biggest question in the heavyweight division, who is the better fighter between Fury and Wilder. Their first encounter ended in a draw, while their second saw utter domination from ‘The Gypsy King’ and the loss was pretty hard for Wilder to digest.
The knockout king himself, as well as his fanbase, have accused Fury of cheating and even claiming that his water was spiked before their second fight in February last year, which concluded in Wilder’s defeat, but for the majority of boxing fans, it was a one man show for the Briton, who’s sheer masterclass over his arch nemesis became the catalyst for Fury soaring above as the WBC’s coveted champion. To bet on Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 and other boxing events, check out betshah.
Fury vs Wilder 3 is finally set to draw a conclusion to the rivalry, but considering the fact that Wilder is being looked as the underdog in the fight, can the ‘Bronze Bomber’ really put up a better show than before and shock the boxing world, reclaiming his title from a man who is never known to back down?
To get an answer to that question, we have to look back into the past of the two elite fighters.
Tyson Fury’s rise
Three years after returning to boxing in 2018, the former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury squared off against Deontay Wilder for the first time on 1st December 2018, challenging Wilder’s WBC championship reign. The fight ended in a split decision draw, but one moment from the fight that stood out was when Fury got up from a vicious right hand from Wilder, beating the count, which became one of the iconic moments in boxing and the first time Wilder, the knockout icon, was unable to knock his opponent out.
Things were not on level playing fields anymore in the rematch three years later. In their much awaited second faceoff, Fury had mauled Wilder, knocking him down twice until a TKO in the 7th round made the British pugilist the new WBC heavyweight champion. The defeat was hard for Wilder to digest, and the formerly undefeated knockout king, who was now slapped with his first career defeat and an end to his five year title reign, came up with several reasons behind his loss since the fight, such as claiming that his water was spiked as well as he was feeling weak during the fight.
Deontay Wilder switching trainer
Following the 7th round TKO loss against Tyson Fury in the second fight, Wilder became furious on his co-trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel during the bout. However, Wilder did not possess the same resentment for his former longtime trainer Jay Deas, who trained Wilder for a long time. However, back in May this year, Wilder decided to switch trainers and joined hands with Malik Scott, who is a former opponent of Wilder and faced in back in March 2014, a year before Wilder started his WBC titlist reign.
Time and again, Wilder has addressed Scott as someone who is a “genius” and someone who “didn’t have the athletic body to be able to perform what’s in his head”, which all signal to one thing- the American will have a different game plan for Fury this time compared to before when he was under the mentorship of Deas.
Fury vs Wilder 3: The winner?
The bigger chunk of the global boxing community sees Fury as the favourite in the fight. The Briton has shown to digest the best Wilder, who’s knockout-to-win percentage stands at 98%, has to offer- his brutal punching power, that Fury was able to recover from. Not only that, Wilder showed much less accuracy in the first fight than his usual, connecting only 17% of them (71 punches of 430 thrown). Although he improved in the rematch with a 24% accuracy (34 of his 141 total punches), he ended up bleeding from his left ear and became seemingly disoriented and only the towel had saved him from any more punishment that Fury was putting him through.
The third fight could very well be a repetition of what the world saw in February last year, as Fury countered everything Wilder had already to offer up until their second encounter. However, if the ‘Bronze Bomber’ has indeed changed up his game plan under his new trainer Scott, things may look different this Friday when the two pugilists step inside the ring.
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