Deontay Wilder Says He Will Rip Tyson Fury's Head off in Rematch

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has said he will rip the head off lineal champion Tyson Fury in their rematch on February 22. 

The two promoted their fight in a heated press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, in which the Bronze Bomber went after Fury's status as lineal champion, per the Mirror's David Anderson:

"He goes around talking he has the lineal title, something that is make believe and fake. He has no belt except the one that holds his pants up now. That's the only thing he has. Come February 22, that lineal bulls--t, it ends. It ends with him.

"All that talk before, it dies, it's dead. This is a new beginning, this is unfinished business that I will finish. I will do exactly what I said I would do, I will knock him out. I'm the lion, the king of the jungle and come February 22, I'm going to rip his head off his body. I'm going to knock you through those ropes so you can really feel a WWE moment in real life."

Wilder took the lead with a seven-minute monologue in which he promised to knock Fury out multiple times. When it was the Gypsy King's turn to talk, he took a less serious approach, per TalkSport's Michael Benson:

Here are some other highlights from the press conference, per the Guardian:

The two battled to a controversial draw in their first meeting in 2018, maintaining their unbeaten records. Fury appeared to be in control of the fight for the majority of the rounds but was knocked down in the final round. All three judges scored the final round 10-8 for Wilder, leading to the split-decision draw.

The Gypsy King believes he got greedy:

Both men fought twice in 2019, with Wilder defending his WBC belt against Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz. Fury beat Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin. He remains the lineal champion thanks to his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.

Wilder has good reason to believe he'll knock Fury out in February. The Bronze Bomber has gone to a decision just twice in his professional career, and in his rematch with Bermane Stiverne, he got the knockout in the very first round:

He struggled in his last fight, however, and was down on all three scorecards when he knocked out Ortiz.

Fury also struggled in his last fight, a decision win over Wallin. The Gypsy King suffered a big cut in the third round and survived several good combinations from the unheralded Wallin, before dominating the second half of the fight.