WILDER-FURY II FIGHT ANALYSIS
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 22 Feb 2020
This Saturday on February 22, 2020 WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, 41KOs) will defend his heavyweight title against England’s Tyson Fury (29-0-1, 20KOs) the former heavyweight champion of the world.
The first fight that took place back in December of 2018 ended with controversy. Many spectators at that fight thought that Fury had totally outboxed Wilder to secure a unanimous decision points victory even though Wilder had scored knockdowns against Fury in the 9th round and in the 12th round. Others thought that Fury received a long count for the second knockdown and the fight should have been stopped giving Wilder the knockout victory.
Both fighters remain undefeated and in the interim, have gone on to add more victories to their boxing records. Both fighters have fought each other professionally and have an idea of each other’s strengths, abilities, and weaknesses.
At the pre-fight weighin held at the MGM grand this afternoon both fighters added more weight to their frames since the first fight. Wilder who weighed 212.5 lbs for the first fight came in at a solid 231 lbs without an ounce of fat to his frame. Fury weighed 256.5 lbs for the first fight but weighed 273 lbs and chose to keep his shirt on when he stepped on the scale.
Wilder and Fury talks from a distance during their weighin Friday in Las Vegas.
What are the keys to victory for both fighters? What does Wilder need to do to earn a victory against Fury?
This boxing writer wants to briefly turn your attention back to boxing when Mike Tyson’s era began back in 1985. Not since Mike Tyson has this writer seen another heavyweight fighter in his prime possess the punching power Wilder has.
Wilder himself said it. His opponent must be perfect for 12 rounds and he only needs to perfect for 2 seconds. Surely fans can expect the same strategy from Wilder in this fight that he has implemented in all his 43 fights. He will likely stalk Fury looking for openings to land his massive right hand to try to end the fight. If he is not able to end the fight early, he will try to land damaging shots to wear down Fury to stop him in later rounds.
Wilder knocks down Fury during their first encounter.
Wilder will do his best to evade Fury’s jab which is one of the best in the current heavyweight division. Wilder must not allow Fury to establish his jab and build points as he did in the first fight. Fury also has good foot movement that he uses along with the jab. Wilder must cut off the ring and impose his will on Fury in order to land his massive right hand to knock Fury out.
What does Fury need to do to defeat Wilder?
Fury has the size, height, stamina, and the boxing skills. The question is will Fury’s chin hold up for another 12 rounds against Wilder.
Fury was once trained by the late Emmanuel Steward. Steward’s nephew, Javan Hill also known as “Sugar Hill” Steward is now training Fury. Adjustments are being made. Those of us that have followed boxing long enough can remember Kronk boxing at its height when Thomas Hearns fought Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Hearns was stopped or knocked out by Leonard and Hagler. Kronx which at that time was led by Emmanuel Steward, came up with a solution to improve Hearns’s chin and his legs. One of the things Kronk did in addition to training was had Hearns ride an exercise bike to strengthen his legs to withstand punches when he got hit. That exercise worked in some fights and Hearns didn’t lose by knockout.
Fury connects at Wilder during their first encounter.
Fury will no doubt be hit by Wilder’s massive right hand at some time in the fight. Fury must do his best with his defense and good footwork to avoid Wilder’s punches. When he is hit with Wilder’s punches, he must shake them off, recover quickly and continue to box. Fury must not abandon his game plan. Fury must utilize the entire ring and box Wilder. He must stick the jab in Wilder’s face and not allow Wilder to get into position to throw power shots. Fury must dictate the pace to throw Wilder’s rhythm off. Perhaps Wilder is right. Fury must be perfect for 12 rounds and even if Wilder manages to be perfect for 2 seconds Fury must negate that.
Wider-Fury II will be an excellent fight. The difference maker in this fight will be trainer “Sugar Hill” Steward. Reports are he has physically prepared Fury for anything Wilder will do in the second fight and he has devised a strategy or game plan for Fury to defeat Wilder. Perhaps the heavier weight of 273 will help Fury shake off Wilder punches. It could be part of the strategy. This Writer pick Fury by 10th round TKO or a split decision victory.
Boxing Notes
The 154 lbs (junior middleweight) division seems wide open. Jarret Hurd was establishing himself as the dominant fighter because he was a unified champ, but he lost to his titles to Julian Williams who then lost the titles to Jeison Rosario in his first defense. Jermell Charlo lost his title by a close decision to Tony Harrison, but Charlo regained the title leaving no doubt the second time by knocking out Harrison. Patrick Teixeira is the WBO champ. It doesn’t appear that WBO welterweight (147lbs) champion Terrance Crawford is really going to move up to 154lbs. These guys at 154lbs have to fight each other. The last man standing (as unified champ) then will have the right to call out big names at 147lbs or 160lbs…Terrance Crawford vs Errol Spence for welterweight supremacy will happen when both sides want the fight to happen. In the meantime, both fighters have to continue winning…The 168lbs division is really heating up. WBC champ David Benevidez gave his thoughts on IBF champ Caleb Plant reportedly turning down an opportunity to fight Canelo Alvarez, his thoughts on WBA champ Callum Smiths last performance, and his desire to fight Canelo. Imagine how big a fight between Canelo and Benavidez would be if Benavidez was a unified 168lbs champ. Let’s see what happens.
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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