Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 - Preview & Prediction

This is the Rummy corner. With great expectation, the entire boxing world awaited the official announcement of a mega showdown for undisputed heavyweight supremacy. Tyson Fury is the current WBC lineal and heavyweight world champion. Anthony Joshua is the current unified IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight world champion. In theory, a fight between Fury and Joshua would produce the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the great Lennox Lewis earned that distinction more than 20 years ago. It makes a lot of sense that an undisputed showdown between Fury and AJ would happen next. But unfortunately in professional boxing, all too often the best fights that make the most sense don't always happen when they matter most.

So a possible showdown for undisputed heavyweight supremacy is not happening. Wilder won his arbitration case and now Fury vs Wilder 3 will take place on July 24. Naturally, many boxing fans are quite disappointed by this recent turn of events. But the silver lining here, at least IMHO, is that a third fight between Fury and Wilder still involves 2 of the top 3 heavyweights currently competing. Beyond that, their first two matches were dramatic and entertaining. Still, fans don't seem especially excited about the third fight between Fury and Wilder, largely because Fury won decisively in their rematch. But I suspect this one will generate more fan interest as fight night gets closer.

So... how did we get here? The story begins more than 6 years ago during the Klitchko era. Vitali had since retired and Wladimir remained the unified IBF, WBO and WBA world heavyweight champion. In January 2015, Wilder won the WBC heavyweight title when he defeated Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision in 12 rounds. Later that year, in November, Tyson Fury shocked the boxing world when he was awarded a decisive 12-round unanimous decision against long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko. The Klitschko era was officially over. Tyson Fury was the new unified IBF/WBO/WBA heavyweight world champion. But not by much. The IBF stripped Fury less than two weeks after he defeated Wladimir.

So at the end of 2015, these were the highest-rated heavyweights according to Ring magazine. Fury was the unified WBO/WBA champion, Wilder was the WBC champion and the IBF title remained vacant. In January 2016, Wilder made his third successful title defense when he scored a ninth-round knockout against Arthur Szpilka. During the post-fight interview, Fury stormed the ring and the two exchanged words, seemingly suggesting a foreshadowing of a future unification fight between Fury and Wilder. But at the time, Fury was scheduled to have a rematch with Wladimir, and Wilder was scheduled to make the mandatory defense of him against Alexander Povetkin.

But none of those fights came to fruition, and Fury vacated his remaining titles in October 2016. So Fury didn't have any fights in 2016 or 2017, and during that time Wilder continued to defend his WBC title, and Anthony Joshua had become a heavyweight force in his own right. AJ and Wilder had become the top two heavyweights during Fury's absence, but for some reason, Joshua and Wilder never came to an agreement to face each other. At the end of 2017, these were the highest-rated heavyweights according to Ring magazine. Anthony Joshua was the unified IBF/WBA heavyweight champion. Deontay Wilder was the WBC champion and Joseph Parker was the WBO champion.

Tyson Fury still had a legitimate claim to the heavyweight lineage, and was still recognized as the heavyweight champion according to Ring. In March 2018, Wilder made his seventh consecutive title defense when he earned a dramatic tenth-round knockout victory against undefeated and highly regarded contender Luis Ortiz. That same month, AJ defeated Parker to add the WBO belt to his existing collection. And a few months later, Fury made his long-awaited return to the ring, and had a couple of warm-up fights before his first big match against The Bronze Bomber. The date was December 1, 2018. Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury: A battle between two undefeated heavyweights, each of whom had a valid right to call themselves heavyweight champion.

The fight produced an intriguing and exciting clash of styles. Fury was largely able to dictate the pace and control the pace. Fury used a jerky style in which he used many feints to great effect. Fury's dominance on the battlefield served him well, where he was defensively responsible and could outbox and outmaneuver Wilder from long range. Wilder was too reliant on landing a big shot, and because of this he had more than his share of fights against the technically superior Fury. Wilder looked very frustrated at times, but he remained determined and his determination paid off in the ninth round when he floored Fury with a short right hand.

Fury beat the count and continued boxing effectively. In the twelfth and final round, Wilder landed his trademark nuclear right followed immediately by a left and Fury went down again, this time looking seriously injured. But Fury managed to beat the count and actually finished the round strong. When the official scorecards were announced, the fight was declared a draw. This was a somewhat controversial draw, where despite suffering two falls, many observers believed Fury deserved the victory. An immediate rematch seemed necessary, but that did not happen. Instead, in 2019, Wilder and Fury went in different directions. In May, Wilder scored a sensational first-round knockout victory against Dominic Breazeale.

Then in June, Fury scored an impressive second-round stoppage against Tom Schwarz. In September, Fury earned a unanimous decision victory in a challenging fight against Otto Wallin. And finally, in November, Wilder scored a dramatic seventh-round knockout in his rematch against Ortiz. This paved the way for the long-awaited rematch, where Fury and Wilder were coming off victories in which they needed to put in the work and overcome adversity to emerge victorious. The rematch took place on February 22 of last year, and this time Fury made some significant changes to his approach, and Wilder was unable to cope with Fury's tremendous execution of his excellent game plan.

The big difference this time was that Fury was making Wilder fight backwards. Fury remained committed to this general approach throughout the fight, and this contrasted starkly with the way he approached his first fight, when Fury generally looked to use movement and stay on the outside. The basic strategy of having Wilder fight backwards was the heart of Fury's approach, but with that came the incredible boxing IQ and all the subtle nuances that make Fury such a fantastic boxer. Fury was still using his trademark feints to great effect, and he still had that elusive, nervous, itchy, nervous rhythm.

Fury knocked Wilder down late in the third round, and the momentum was all Fury after that. Wilder fought bravely, but simply had no answers to Fury's tactics. Fury knocked Wilder down again in the fifth round when he landed a crippling left hand to the body. Wilder's legs were gone, but he still fought. Fury never overstepped his bounds, never became reckless, and continued to take care of business. Wilder was starting to absorb a lot of punishment as he was being torn apart physically and mentally. Things finally came to an end in the seventh round when Wilder's corner stopped the fight.

Shortly after the fight, COVID-19 arrived and changed the entire boxing landscape, and the contractually obligated third fight between the two never came to fruition. It recently looked like we would be getting a heavyweight unification showdown between Fury and AJ, but Wilder ultimately won his arbitration case. So here we are, and the third fight between Fury and Wilder is scheduled for July 24, less than two months away. Who will win the third fight between these two outstanding heavyweight talents? Before I share my opinion, full disclosure. I picked Fury to win by unanimous decision in his first fight, and that one was officially declared a draw.

For the rematch, I picked Wilder to win by 11th round knockout, but Fury won the rematch by 7th round knockout. So, both of my previous

prediction

s involving these two were wrong, and that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of my horrible track record with regards to predicting the correct outcome in high-profile fights. All that said, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Wilder wins the third fight. In the 18 and a half rounds these two had against each other, a strong argument could be made that Wilder only won 2 of those 18 and a half rounds. You could argue that Wilder won a few more than that, but you can reasonably argue that Wilder only won 2 rounds, and those were the 9th and 12th rounds of their first fight when Wilder knocked Fury down.

This strongly suggests that Wilder needs a knockout to win, or he needs to hurt Fury early and often and knock him down multiple times along the way. But while Wilder's path to victory depends on his ability to knock out Fury or hurt him repeatedly, it's not an inconceivable proposition. For WIlder, it has always been more about setting up the big knockout than winning rounds. But his efforts in the rematch against Fury never gave him the opportunity to get the big right. For Wilder to win, I think he needs to try to get rid of Fury, and to do that I think the key is to use his jab.

He doesn't need to throw a scoring jab constantly, he just needs to try to use it more often to keep Fury guessing. Fury has tremendous elusive head and upper body movement, but his massive torso always provides a more stationary target, and I think Wilder should focus more attention on that region. It could also help Wilder to use more feints, where he also doesn't always throw every punch with bad intentions. If he can slow down his hitting a little bit and score a little more, he could help create openings that otherwise wouldn't exist. Last time, Fury dominated Wilder by making him fight off the back foot.

Therefore, Wilder may also find it useful to try to find ways to dissuade Fury from applying pressure. But there are two big problems for Wilder here. #1 Wilder is 35 years old and, despite his incredible knockout power, he has never been an elite tactician. Wilder has a lot of bad habits, many of which Fury took advantage of in various ways during his two fights. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks and, as a 35-year-old heavyweight, it's hard to imagine Wilder making many adjustments to the style that has previously brought him success. #2 No matter what distance and fighting range these two have fought, Fury has almost always had the advantage, whether outside, inside, mid-range, or transitioning back and forth.

Fury also has better lateral movement and in general, Fury not only has a much better fundamental understanding of how to maintain proper range for a particular situation, but his execution has also proven to be far superior during their 18 and a half rounds together within of the square. circle. For Fury, I think the key is to be defensively responsible and stay focused. If Fury can do that, then I think otherwise he just needs to do all the little things that have worked for him in his first two fights against Wilder. Fury has a lot of tricks and a high IQ, so he usually knows what he needs to do when he needs it.

If Fury is defensively responsible and doesn't become complacent, it becomes even harder to imagine a situation where Wilder finds a way to get that big nuclear right. For my official

prediction

, I'm choosing Tyson Fury via 9th round stoppage. In fact, I think Wilder will do a little better this time, and I think he may even give Fury some initial difficulties, but ultimately, I think Fury has a clear advantage here in skills, skill, ring intelligence and execution. I think Fury will once again largely dictate and control the scope of the action, and I like Tyson Fury in round 9.

But whatever happens, I'm actually really looking forward to this fight, and for him to win. the best. that night. So who do you think will win the third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder? Share your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed it and have a wonderful night. This is the Rummy corner. .