Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury: A Head-to-Toe Breakdown
When Deontay Wilder finally landed his money punch against Tyson Fury in Round 12 of their epic heavyweight championship clash back in December 2018, it appeared the American had finally seized the throne of what's long been considered boxing's glamour division.
Wilder had knocked out every single fighter he had ever faced inside a boxing ring as a professional, with the exception of the time he broke his right hand during his first bout against Bermane Stiverne in 2015.
But minus the one fight with a broken moneymaker, Wilder had knocked out everyone.
It appeared as if it was happening again during the final round of the first fight. Fury went down hard, straight down on his back, and it appeared as if he wouldn't stand up again for a good amount of time.
But that's not what happened. Fury shockingly got back to his feet before the referee could finish counting him out and finished the round upright to save the split-draw verdict.
Now the two meet again under virtually the same circumstances as the first fight. Both Wilder and Fury enter the rematch as undefeated heavyweights with valid claims to boxing's heavyweight championship. Wilder is the WBC titleholder. Fury is considered by some to be the lineal heavyweight champion.
Here's a head-to-toe breakdown of how these two fighters match up against each other ahead of their massive showdown this weekend in Las Vegas.
What You Need to Know
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What: Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury; 12-round heavyweight championship bout rematch for Wilder's WBC title and Fury's lineal championship.
Where: MGM Grand in Las Vegas
When: Feb. 22
TV: Fox Sports and ESPN+ pay-per-view
What's At Stake: In addition to putting their titles and undefeated records on the line, Wilder and Fury will also be battling to secure the top spot in the heavyweight division.
The winner of the bout will win the vacant heavyweight championships offered by The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Those titles are considered by some to be step up from the alphabet titles offered by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing, the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.
The winner of Wilder-Fury 2 will also be in a great position to do something no heavyweight boxer has done since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999. By beating Holyfield, Lewis became the last undisputed heavyweight champion in boxing history. The winner of Wilder-Fury 2 would need only to square-off next against WBA, WBO and IBF titleholder Anthony Joshua for the chance at doing the same.
Tale of the Tape
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| Deontay Wilder | Tyson Fury | |
| Record | 42-0-1, 41 KOs | 29-0-1, 20 KOs |
| Height | 6'7" | 6'9" |
| Weight | 220 | 254 |
| Age | 34 | 31 |
| Reach | 83" | 85" |
| Stance | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Rounds | 143 | 186 |
All stats per Boxrec.com
Boxing Ability
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It's no secret that Tyson Fury is the better overall boxer. In fact, one could easily make the case that Fury is the best pure boxer in the heavyweight division overall. While he's one of the tallest heavyweights in boxing history, he's also one of the best in the sport at moving his feet, head and hands in a way that makes him hard to beat.
What is kind of a secret is how good a boxer Deontay Wilder is. Sure, Wilder's skill looks different than what most people teach at your local boxing gym, and the aesthetics of it might not be for everyone. But Wilder does the single most important thing a fighter must do in order to become a successful performer: He knows what he's good at, and he sticks to doing that over all other things.
Regardless, Fury has the best overall skillset among the heavyweights right now. He's one of the few competitors in the division who has the reach advantage on Wilder on fight night, and he largely outboxed the American puncher for the majority of the first fight back in 2018.
What Fury did wrong during their first encounter was losing focus at times. Wilder's athleticism, tenacity and power make him an incredibly dangerous opponent in every single round. For Fury to win the rematch, he'll need to stay focused on boxing the entire bout.
Because even in doing that, Wilder still has the right set of tools that make getting through an entire fight against him a scary proposition. Fury is the better technician, but he'll need to be at his best to secure the win.
Advantage: Fury
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Power
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Deontay Wilder is one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He's easily the most powerful heavyweight in boxing today, and he might actually be the hardest hitter the sport has ever seen.
Think about that for just a minute. Wilder compares favorably to such beasts from boxing history as Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, George Foreman and Mike Tyson. The idea that Wilder could even be listed among those stalwarts is breathtaking, and the stone-cold fact that he might actually hit harder than any of them is something that shouldn't go unnoticed.
Tyson Fury is also a good puncher, though his power is more the type that just keeps his opponents honest. Like Wilder, Fury is an incredibly large heavyweight. His bone structure and weight alone give him a substantial amount of pop in his punches.
Still, the 31-year-old isn't close to being the same puncher as Wilder. Moreover, Fury relies more on sharp boxing skills than his power. To borrow from The Sweet Science's Frank Lotierzo in summation of the similarly minded Floyd Mayweather Jr. (and Muhammad Ali before him), Fury hits just hard enough to win.
Advantage: Wilder
Defense
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A focused Tyson Fury is an incredibly difficult fighter to hit. Just ask Wladimir Klitschko. When Fury upset Klitschko back in 2015 to become heavyweight champion of the world, he did so by short-circuiting the Ukrainian's attacks. It wasn't necessarily the most pleasing fight to watch, especially for those who seek constant violent action. But Fury's methods earned him a shock victory.
Deontay Wilder isn't nearly the same defensive stylist as Fury, but Wilder's impressive athleticism, augmented by his incredible chin, give him a much better defense than some observers credit him with having.
Additionally, the threat of Wilder's insatiable right hand, and his constant pressure with that punch, offer him a level of assuredness most other fighters find themselves without inside a boxing ring.
Still, Fury has to be considered the better fighter defensively. His head movement, fast feet and smart boxing moves are unequaled in today's heavyweight division.
Advantage: Fury
X-Factors
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Deontay Wilder's X-Factor: Will Seeing Opponent Rise Last Fight Cause Trouble?
Wilder had basically knocked out every other fighter he'd ever faced as a professional before Fury climbed off the canvas in 2018. Sure, Stiverne went the distance with Wilder in 2015, but that could easily be explained away inside Wilder's head as a product of his hand injury.
But Fury? Wilder hit him with the full force of his incredible right hand and Fury still managed to get back up from it.
The psychological damage of experiencing something like that could hurt Wilder's chances in the rematch. In fact, Wilder might not even be all that aware that he's been shaken from seeing someone get up from that punch, and it might not hit him until he sees Fury standing across the ring from him.
But even if he's aware, it might hurt him more than help him, especially if Wilder doesn't know how to process all the thoughts and feelings that go along with getting over something like that.
The hard-hitting menace might find himself gunning too hard for the knockout all 12 rounds, and the clever Fury would surely make him pay for it.
Tyson Fury's X-Factor: Is Fury Totally Focused On Beating Wilder?
The Fury that almost beat Wilder in the first fight and the one that heads into the rematch seem like entirely different people. Whether that's good or bad won't be known until the fight is over.
Fury seemed like a man on a mission back in 2018. He'd overcome a host of outside-the-ring troubles, fast-tracked his road to facing Wilder and almost pulled off the unthinkable. In his mind, in fact, he did accomplish his goal that night. Fury believes the judges should have given him the nod over Wilder in 2018.
Since that epic fight, Fury's life has changed. He signed a huge deal with Top Rank and ESPN. He published an autobiography. He competed as a professional wrestler in the WWE. He called for some MMA fights. He talked about retirement.
All those things are the types of actions people take when they're nearer the end of their careers than the beginning. Deep down, Fury might think and feel like a fighter who has already completed his mission.
But boxing is a sport best suited for the whole-hearted. The greatest fighters in the world are the ones who eat, sleep and live the sport. If Fury enters the Wilder rematch with one foot out the door, Wilder has the talent and ability to send Fury packing for good.
Prediction
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Deontay Wilder already deserves to be a bigger sports celebrity than he is. He's piled up an amazing library of highlight-reel knockouts in boxing's glamour division. He's held his WBC heavyweight title belt for almost half a decade. He's likable, charismatic and genuinely a fine example of what kind of human being helps make boxing so special.
But none of those things matter when predicting prizefights. Fury is younger, taller, the better boxer and appears to be in much better shape for the rematch. Those things alone should give him the edge in the fight, but the thing that stands out most to me is what a big-fight performer Fury has been throughout his career.
To put it plainly, Fury fights best when the stakes are highest. They've never been higher for Fury than right now, and that should help produce the best version of Fury that anyone has ever seen.
If that's what happens, Fury will win the majority of the rounds by taking Wilder's best punch away from him with clever footwork, and he'll not put himself in harm's way enough this time around for Wilder's power to come into play.
Still, it should also be noted that I am probably in the minority with my pick. Indeed, our Bleacher Report team picked Wilder 3-1, and an assortment of boxing legends that include Manny Pacquiao, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes all picked Wilder to win the fight as well.
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