It may not be the blockbuster all-British bout against Anthony Joshua that boxing fans all over the world wanted to see this year, but Tyson Fury will return to the ring later this month — trading blows with his old foe Deontay Wilder for the third time.
Fury had tried to wrangle his way out of a trilogy fight with ‘The Bronze Bomber’, who he beat last time out at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but was not willing to pay the American the reported £14 million purse he wanted to step aside and pave the way for a unification bout between Fury and Joshua.
Wilder is clearly keen to get in the ring with Fury again and an arbitration case ruled that the trilogy bout must go ahead. So, with the bout, which ‘The Gypsy King’ is tipped to win in the Fury vs Wilder odds, scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in ‘Sin City’ on July 24th, let’s take a look at what we can expect from Fury vs Wilder 3…
More excuses from Wilder
After failing to win the first two bouts, Wilder has used just about every excuse under the sun. In the aftermath of his defeat to Fury at the iconic MGM Grand early last year, Wilder claimed his ring-walk outfit, which weighed a huge 45lbs, weakened his legs, his former coach, who threw in the towel, had spiked his water prior to the fight and that Fury had added a ‘hard object’ to his gloves before entering the ring. There’s no doubt that Wilder will produce some kind of crazy conspiracy. In fact, he has already started, claiming Fury has a ‘master plan’ to cheat once again.
“You think he isn’t going to try to cheat this time?” Wilder said. “Oh, they’re thinking, they’re coming up with a master plan. But my thing to him – man, you couldn’t even get me out on loaded gloves and the conditions I was under. You couldn’t knock me out, you didn’t knock me out.”
Fury to outbox Wilder… again
Aside from being caught by one of Wilder’s trademark hammer blows late in the first fight, which he miraculously recovered from in time for the referee’s count, Fury has largely been able to dodge the American’s route-one style, and at times that has left Wilder looking clueless. In the second fight, Fury established himself early on, landing some big punches whilst avoiding Wilder’s efforts. It wasn’t long before Wilder started getting sent to the mat. After being knocked down in the third round and twice in the fifth, the towel was eventually thrown in by Wilder’s corner in the seventh.
Another stoppage from Fury
After that comfortable victory in Vegas last February, Fury doesn’t really need to switch anything up ahead of the third fight. He dominated Wilder from start to finish, and if he goes on the front foot from the first bell, jabbing away at Wilder and landing big punches when the opportunity arises, wearing him down and leaning on him when necessary, then Fury will surely stop Wilder in the middle-to-late rounds once again.
Our verdict – Fury to win in round 7-9
Wilder and his technique are not built to go the distance. In fact, the first bout with Fury in Los Angeles was just the second time in 44 professional fights that the American has been involved in a full 12-round slog. If Fury dominates from the off in a similar fashion as before, there’s little to no chance Wilder will go the distance. Therefore, a Fury victory between the 7th and 9th rounds looks like a fair prediction.
