SPORTS SHORTS 234: TYSON FURY VS. DEONTAY WILDER III TALE OF THE TAPE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 09 Oct 2021
Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III, billed as "Once and For All" is a boxing trilogy championship fight between WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, and former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder. The bout is scheduled to happen at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada on October 9, 2021.
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Real name: Tyson Luke Fury
Nickname: "Gypsy King"
Record: 30-0-1, 21 KOs
KO rate: 67.74%
Pro career: 2008-2021
Debut: December 6, 2008
Height: 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Weight: 277 pounds
Reach: 85 in (216 cm)
Age: 33
Stance: Orthodox
Fights: 31
Rounds: 193
Born: August 12, 1988 (age 33) in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Recognition: WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion
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Real name: Deontay Leshun Wilder
Nickname: "Bronze Bomber"
Record: 42-1-1, 41 KOs
KO rate: 93.18%
Pro career: 2008-2021
Debut: November 15, 2008
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight: 238 pounds
Reach: 83 in (211 cm)
Age: 35
Stance: Orthodox
Fights: 44
Rounds: 150
Born: October 22, 1985 (age 35) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Recognition: Former WBC heavyweight champion
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Fury and Wilder first fought on December 1, 2018, with the bout ending in a controversial draw. Phil Edwards of United Kingdom had it 113-113, Alejandro Rochin of California, United States saw it 115-111 for Wilder while Robert Tapper of Canada scored it 114-112 for Fury.
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Both fighters engaged in a rematch on February 22, 2020, with Fury coming out as the winner via seventh-round technical knockout to seize the WBC and vacant Ring magazine heavyweight titles.
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The Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder trilogy is full of boxing's theatrics which makes it more appealing to the fans worldwide. When they first fought, it was Fury's third fight since returning from more than two years of inactivity during which he weighed more than 300 pounds and recovered from alcoholism and depression.
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He survived from two knockdowns to salvage a draw in what many fans believed he could have won on the judges' scorecards. He later fought twice more winning over Sweden's Otto Wallin by unanimous decision and Germany's Tom Schwarz by 2nd round TKO before stopping Wilder in a seventh-round corner retirement.
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Wilder fired longtime trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel after the knockout loss, the first defeat of his career, and paraded a lot of excuses. He claimed that a heavy ring-walk outfit tired his legs, and also blamed referee Kenny Bayless was biased for Fury, and he faulted Breland as working for Fury as an agent.
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The third fight was initially postponed to give way to a Fury match with British archrival Anthony Joshua, but Wilder earned the right through an arbitrator that mandated him to face the American before the Fury and Joshua encounter.
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The trilogy fight was set for June 24 but was postponed when Fury was tested positive for COVID-19. Fury's team insisted that the rematch clause had now expired, and Wilder's team contended the reverse, the arbitration judge has to decide the outcome.
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Fury meanwhile entered into negotiations for a unification bout with WBA (Super), IBF and WBO champion, Anthony Joshua. However, on May 17, 2021, it was announced that the arbitration judge had ruled in favor of Wilder, ordering Fury to defend against Wilder not later than September 15.
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Heeding the arbitration decision, Fury's co-promoter, Bob Arum, set a scheduled date of July 24, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was postponed after Fury was tested positive for COVID-19. The new date was announced and it will be held on October 9, 2021.
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During the official weigh-in, Fury and Wilder tipped in at the heaviest weights of their pro careers. Fury came in at 277 lbs and Wilder at 238 lbs, that's five pounds more for Fury than his weight in their last fight in February 2020 and seven pounds heavier for Wilder than their last encounter.
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Tyson Fury quotes: “I’ve just been training and taking it day by day. All we can do is live one day at a time. Every day that we wake up is a blessed day. All these fights are precisely the same to me."
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"Some guy is trying to take my head off. No matter who it may be, they don’t matter to me. It’s the Tyson Fury roadshow, and it has continued for 13 years."
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“Wilder is a weak person mentally, and I’m going to knock him out on Saturday night. I obliterated him in the rematch, and I see much more of the same in the third fight."
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“I’m the last man standing between me, Deontay and Anthony Joshua. I’m the final one undefeated. I’m the two-time heavyweight champion, and I’ve never lost a fight. That’s history."
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“He says he wants to do bad things to me and that he’s got all this anger and aggression. Those who hold hot coals with aggression are the ones who get burned."
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He knows he’s lost twice and that he’s going to lose the third time. He’s in denial, and he’s getting knocked out. His legacy is in bits. I knocked him out, and now I’m going to retire him.”
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Deontay Wilder quotes: “I don’t have anything to prove. I’m in a great place and in an excellent state of mind. I have a lot of great people around me. This fight is about redemption, retaliation, and retribution."
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“Many people thought I was down and out, but it wouldn’t be fair to the people around me to feel that way. My dedication has been focused every day."
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“Saturday night is going to be a different fight. We rarely get trilogies like this, and I genuinely believe this one is going down in history."
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“It’s only made me better as a man and as a fighter to see certain things that happened in the second fight. It’s made me even hungrier than before. I needed everything that happened in that fight. It was really a blessing in disguise."
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“I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Your legacy only dies when the desire for the sport dies. I’m well alive right now."
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“My energy is like my mind, and it’s very violent. I’m just ready to go on October 9. I’ve dedicated myself and devoted my time and my body, me and my team, to reinvent myself. I’m ready to reintroduce myself to the world."
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“Get ready for war. This is going to be an amazing fight on Saturday night. I’m wearing my red outfit because I want it back in blood. I’m looking forward to it.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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