Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder shared three of the best fights of the current generation of heavyweights.
Their story started back in 2018 when Fury was coming off a long layoff following a bout of depression after he beat Wladimir Klitschko to become world heavyweight champion for the first time in 2015.
When he initially returned to the ring he took two straightforward fights against low-key opposition then went straight into the first battle with Wilder, the then WBC champion who had knocked out every man he had faced with his fearsome right hand – once at the second time of asking against Bermaine Stiverne.
The contest was a back-and-forth battle in which Fury boxed smart and mostly stayed out of trouble until mid-way through the final round when he was caught heavily and sent to the canvas.
In one of the greatest scenes of modern times, he rose just in time to beat the count then pushed Wilder back for the rest of the round to score a controversial draw minutes later.
The pair faces off twice more in 2020 and 2021, and both times Fury fought on the front foot. While he took plenty of heavy fire himself – there were 10 knockdowns between them in all three fights – he ultimately got the job done both times with a pair of impressive knockout wins.
Speaking to Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, ‘The Gypsy King’ who is in camp training to avenge his first-ever loss to Oleksandr Usyk, had some words of advice when asked about Wilder’s next move.
“Being truthful I’d like to see poor old Deontay retire from boxing. When I beat Wilder he was 44-0 with 43 KOs and he KOed the guy who went the distance with him in the rematch.
“So that means he knocked out every single person he ever faced and obviously lost the three fights to me. We took a lot of years out of each other’s life.
“Even when he’s come back and had a couple of fights since, he’s only a shadow of his former glory. The only thing left about Deontay Wilder is his name.”
Wilder has not been the same since the Fury trilogy and has fought just three times – a one round blow out of Robert Helenius, then a points loss to Joseph Parker before being knocked out inside five rounds by Zhilei Zhang back in June.
He has confirmed he will fight on but is yet to announce a date or opponent for his comeback.
