Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury: The story so far

With Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury set to face off in July in a their trilogy fight, we take a look back at their two previous meetings.

Fury unfortunate to miss out on victory?

The first fight was one of the most controversial boxing results in recent memory. Many flocked onto social media to express their distaste at the way the judges had scored as they saw the Gypsy King to be the clear victor.

Fury had looked incredible throughout the first haul of rounds. He was back to his best. He let his inner entertainer come out as he continuously mocked and taunted Wilder in between a few useful jabs. All the while, he avoided any danger from Wilder.

Fury’s corner said he was a puzzle that Wilder was unable to work out. Fury landed more punches than Wilder in nine of the 12 rounds while limiting Wilder to only 71 connects throughout the whole fight.

This averaged out to be at least six per round. In comparison, during Fury’s huge fight against Wladimir Klitschko he only let his opponent land 53, an average of four per round. It’s not quite as impressive, but with the amount Fury has been through and to come out and fight like that against Wilder really is a testament to the Gypsy King.

Fury also landed more punches on his opponent in total with 84 connections. He was more dominant in both jabs, where he had 46, and power punches, in which he landed 38. A compelling argument but these don’t tell the story of the whole fight.

Wilder’s knockdown of Fury in the 12th round certainly influenced the judges’ scores and raised an otherwise poor fight for the Bronze Bomber.

The return of the King

The decision was made for Fury to drop his old trainer Ben Davison for Sugarhill Steward as well as acquiring the services of revered ‘cut-man’ Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran – and boy did the move pay off.

The strategy for Fury – in stark contrast to the first fight – was to dominate Wilder early, be aggressive, and put the American on the back foot from the first bell.

Fury looked sharper, stronger and his brutal power punches landed in the first round signalled his intent early. Wilder couldn’t cope.

With a three stone advantage, Fury began to lean on Wilder in rounds two and three, and by the fourth, Wilder looked shot for energy, not to mention the two clean punches he himself landed clean, which Fury took with ease; he kept moving forward.

Wilder landed just 54 punches to Fury’s 135 across the fight, managing only 19 in the final four rounds, and in round five he landed just two.

It was a long time coming when coach Mark Breland threw in the towel for Wilder in the seventh, following a flurry of Fury punches whilst Wilder tucked up in the corner.

It marked the end of a near punch perfect performance from Fury, who remains the lineal heavyweight champion of the world, adding the WBC and ‘The Ring magazine’ titles to his name.

Where next for Wilder? Well he won’t be ordering a fancy outfit for the third fight, but he will be prepared for Fury to come forward, whose tactics no longer remain a secret.

Fury is set to go into this blockbuster trilogy fight as the 2/7 favourite – Wilder is 11/4 for the win.

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