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By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
Everything about the trilogy fight between champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1) and Deontay Wilder (42-1-1) is heavy.
Going back to Wilder’s many excuses about why he lost to Fury in their second meeting in Feb. 2020, the former heavyweight champion claimed his walkout costume weighed more than 40 pounds and hampered his early movement in the ring. On Friday, the official weights were announced for the bitter rivals who are about to settle a score on Pay-Per-View come today at T-Mobile Arena. Wilder at 6’7’’ crossed the stage at 248 pounds, and the 6’9’’Fury stood a hefty 277.
Usually, a trilogy breaks a tie. That’s not so in this case. The first meeting was a split draw. Fury seemed to win most of the rounds besides the ones in which Wilder scored knockdowns (the ninth and 12th). In that fight, Wilder weighed 212.5 while Fury was 256.5 pounds. The second meeting inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena was a violent one-sided affair that ended in the seventh round after Wilder’s team threw in the towel. For many, Tyson Fury is up two-zip.
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Nobody really wanted this third fight to happen. There was no social media buzz created by fans clamoring for a rubber match. Wilder used the weight of a court of law to force the contest to happen. Daniel Weinstein, the arbitrator presiding over the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder rematch dispute, ruled in May that due to an agreed upon contractual obligation, Wilder was entitled to a third fight with Fury. The decision came one day after Fury confirmed he struck a deal with fellow British boxing star, Anthony Joshua for an undisputed heavyweight championship on Aug. 14 in Saudi Arabia.
The Bronze Bomber is confident he’ll spin his legal victory into one in the ring. “We have rejuvenated myself. We reinvented myself. Redemption is upon us. And I can’t wait to show the world what I’m all about. I’m reintroducing myself to the world as Deontay Wilder.”
With its many twists, the making of this fight has been burdensome for fans and the promotion. In June, The Gypsy King said he aimed to be 300 pounds ahead of his third fight with Wilder, which was scheduled to take place in July before Fury and almost a dozen members of his camp tested positive for COVID-19.
While we waited for Fury’s recovery and a new date to be scheduled, the multitude of excuses made by the soon to be 36-year-old Wilder marred down any enthusiasm that was beginning to swell. It’s been a wet blanket draped over the fight. Wilder made more unsubstantiated claims that Fury cheated in their 2020 meeting. Claims that include his former trainer spiking his water and that Fury was using “loaded gloves,” which helped him earn the seventh-round TKO.
“Maybe if you’d come out with one of these excuses, which would have been believable, but not 50 of them, come on,” Fury said. “What it tells me is that he’s a weak, mental little person who I am going to knock out on Saturday night.”
The long-standing animosity between the fighters and their supporters led to there being no face-off throughout the week. There was plenty of profanity to go around the empty MGM Grand Arena where the weigh in was staged.
“I can’t wait for Saturday night. I’m going to really severely damage him. He’ll be unrecognizable after the fight,” said Fury in his usual stage commanding diatribe. To which Wilder countered “My energy is like my mind, it’s very violent,” Wilder said. “I’m just ready to go. I’ve dedicated myself, devoted my time and my body, me and my team reinvented. I’m ready to reintroduce myself to the world. Prepare yourself for battle and get ready for war.”
“He says he wants to do bad things to me, and hurt me and he’s got all this anger and malice and aggression. I don’t want to hurt Deontay Wilder. I just want to beat him in a fight,” Fury maintained this week.
LVSportsbiz spoke with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman to get clarity on the remaining slate of heavyweight fights for 2021. According to Sulaiman, the sanctioning body will allow the winner of Fury vs Wilder 30 days to finalize an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk, the new WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titleist. “If no unification bout is secured within that time, the winner of Fury vs Wilder 3 must then fight next against the then reigning WBC Interim Heavyweight Champion,” Sulaiman explained.
Make no mistake, the fight will be a spectacle. These are two enormous athletes who both possess iconic brute power. They’re heavyweights, and heavyweight fights in Las Vegas are massive events. After months of setbacks, delays and a court case, the two men will collide in their awaited grudge match. When it’s finally over, the boxing community can breathe a sigh of relief and feel a bit lighter for it.
Coverage of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 3 will begin with a pre show at 4 p.m. PDT followed by the undercard at 4:30 p.m. PDT. The pay-per-view main card is set to begin at 6 p.m. PDT. Expect Fury and Wilder to make their ring walks for the main event in the 8:00 hour.