Last Saturday night in Las Vegas, Tyson Fury finally erased the memory of what was one of the biggest travesties heavyweight boxing had ever seen, when he stopped WBC champion Deontay Wilder in the seventh round.
The travesty occurred two years ago when the pair fought for the first time. Anyone with eyes that night saw Tyson Fury completely school Deontay Wilder for 98% of the fight. Wilder scored two knock downs, and that was somehow enough to earn him a draw.
Clearly what should have happened was Fury being declared the winner and new WBC heavyweight champion of the world. Instead Wilder was able to throw in a couple more defences against lesser fighters, thus allowing him to equal the legendary Muhummad Ali's record of ten title defences.
This was the real travesty, because apart from Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder has been able to stay champion avoiding some of the biggest names in boxing. Critics of this opinion may point to the two Luis Ortiz fights, however Ortiz is an ageing fighter that never could really be considered top draw.
Insult To Injury
Deontay Wilder has apparently triggered the thirty day rematch clause in his boxing contract, which considering the utter drubbing he received at the hands of Fury, indicates that he perhaps has not quite recovered from his head injuries yet.
Even though Wilder is no longer heavyweight boxing champion of the world, he can lay claim to being the champ of pathetic excuses.
Wilder claims; “He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is my uniform was way too heavy for me (...) A lot of people were telling me: ‘it looked like something was wrong with you.’ ”
Of course it was, the thing wrong with him was he was getting pummelled in the head by a 19.5 stone (275 lbs) man, however Wilder has convinced him self that a 40 pound (18.1 kg) suit was the reason he lost the biggest fight of his life.
One way you can take it is that he is insulting our intelligence by even thinking of suggesting that a few minutes wearing a suit of armour weighing less than the lightest weights he probably uses in the gym was the reason the fight was so one sided.
Or perhaps a fighter always has to give himself some excuse, otherwise he'd have to face the truth that he was just beaten by a bigger, stronger, more skilled opponent.
No Redemption
To be honest I was glad his corner threw in the towel, whilst I'm no fan, I genuinely thought we were watching a man getting beaten to death. The way he was holding onto the ropes when he wasn't even getting hit, and the blood continually pouring from that left ear was alarming to say the least.
I hope that Wilder decides to pull out of his knee jerk rematch request. It'll be no problem for him to come up with some excuse as to why he can't make the third fight, and move over to perhaps allow for a potential unification fight with Anthony Joshua (who for the record, I believe will duck Fury).
If Wilder fights Fury again I fear for his safety. Under the guidance of Kronk Gym guru Sugarhill Steward, nephew to the legendary trainer Emanuel Steward, Fury will only get better. We already saw the effect on Saturday night, perhaps not quite as nimble as he is when fighting between eighteen and nineteen stone, however his power and accuracy have increased.
His ring craft has never been in doubt, and that too has improved under Steward. The way Fury stood on Wilder's jab and stayed outside his lead foot, completely nullifying the former champ's one weapon, his big right hand.
If this is what Sugarhill Steward can do with Fury in just six weeks, imagine what he'll be doing in the interim months between now and the fight.
Of course a big payday will be the main reason Wilder would want to get back in the ring with Fury again. I would ask him though; is it worth risking your health, and possibly your life for?
One thing's for sure though, the future of boxing is in Tyson Fury's ginormous hands.To be sure, anyone brave enough to get into the ring with him, will feel those hands pounding into them for as many rounds as they can bear.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS DEONTAY WILDER MAD FOR WANTING TO GET BACK INTO THE RING WITH FURY, OR JUST CONCUSSED? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD A WORSE EXCUSE FROM AN ATHLETE TO EXPLAIN A LOSS?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!