This is Rummy's Corner.
Coming up just a few short weeks away, on February 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,
Nevada, in a bout that will be broadcast in the US on a joint-venture Fox-ESPN PPV event,reigning
WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder will have a highly anticipated rematch against
lineal heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury!
This, in my humble opinion, is the single greatest match-up boxing fans could hope for
at this time.
So props to Wilder and Fury for making it happen again, and props to ESPN and Fox coming
together to bring us this mega-bout, and props to everyone else who worked in making this
highly coveted heavyweight championship contest a reality.
In a day and age where all too often the best don't consistently face the best, both Wilder
and Fury deserve full credit for putting everything on the line, not once, but twice!
Since their somewhat controversial draw when they first met more than 13 months ago, Wilder
and Fury have each fought twice.
In May of last year, Wilder scored a sensational 1st round knockout victory against Dominic
Breazeale.
Then in June of last year, Fury scored an impressive 2nd round stoppage against Tom
Schwarz.
Then last September, Fury was awarded a unanimous decision victory in a challenging fight against
Otto Wallin.
And then back in November, Wilder scored a dramatic 7th round knockout in his rematch
against Luis Ortiz.
Fury and Wilder are both coming off of matches where they needed to grind it out in order
to emerge victorious, and I for one was impressed with the way each champion did so.
They both managed to stay the course, persevere, and overcome.
Wilder was being outboxed by Ortiz, and he was down on all three official cards when
he delivered the dynamite knockout punch.
Fury was having a lot of difficulty against Wallin and he had suffered a couple of nasty
cuts, but Fury hung in there and finished the fight strong to earn the victory.
A lot of fans are critical of the fact that Wilder was being outboxed by Ortiz until he
landed the crushing knockout, but that's always been what Wilder is all about.
And a lot of fans are also critical of Fury's troubles with Wallin, but Wallin was a tricky
southpaw, and Fury still managed to battle his way through the difficulty.
In my view, these are exactly the type of challenges that I believe will ensure we get
the best versions of Wilder and Fury possible at this time.
While many observers are critical of each man's most recent performance, I believe their
respective winning efforts were admirable showings from two champions with a great abundance
of heart and determination.
So who will win the rematch?
I have no idea whatsoever!
I honestly believe this is a true 50-50 pick'em fight if ever there was one.
For Fury to win, I don't think he needs to change much strategically.
Fury had the right idea last time around, and he was largely able to execute from that
blueprint.
Obviously, Fury is going to want to avoid as many Wilder right hands as he can, so he's
going to need to be even more focused on maintaining a safe distance and creating favorable angles.
He will need to minimize any mistakes in those areas, so that if any right hands do get through,
he'll want to be positioned in such a way that he minimizes any would-be incoming damage.
Fury got dropped twice in the last fight, and both knock downs came late in the fight
where Wilder created openings when Fury tired.
In that sense, the most important thing for Fury will come from his preparations.
He needs to be in top physical form so that he has the stamina to continue to maintain
his distance and create favorable angles late into the contest.
Fury has an incredible chin, and as he proved last time, he has a tremendous heart, too.
It still amazes me that he was able to rise from that second knockdown and still finish
strong.
But for Fury to win this time, I really believe he needs to avoid finding himself in that
situation again.
So I really believe Fury being much better conditioned is of the utmost importance here.
And while I don't think Fury can do a whole lot differently in terms of overall strategy,
I do think he can make some small adjustments, such as subtly changing his feinting patterns
throughout the fight.
Fury usually excels when it comes to feinting, but I think he needs to alter his patterns
a little more in an effort to keep Wilder confused.
Fury should probably be more willing to take a left if it means potentially avoiding the
right hand, and when the angles are favorable, Fury must not be afraid to sit on his punches
a little more.
Fury is certainly not among the hardest punchers in the division, but he is certainly capable
of being a sharp puncher when he chooses.
For Wilder to win, I think he has far more room for improvement in terms of his tactical
approach and the necessary adjustments.
It's never Wilder's plan to win rounds, it's about setting an opponent up for a knockout.
But even still, Wilder was far too reliant on looking to land one monster shot.
Wilder should jab more, even if they aren't scoring jabs.
He won't want to get too predictable with his jab or other punches, though.
Wilder is good at mixing up his angles of delivery, but it might serve him well to throw
many more punches that aren't full force.
It should also benefit Wilder to target Fury's chest and midsection if his head and upper
body movement are too elusive.
Fury is good at being elusive with his head, but his gigantic torso provides a much more
stationary target.
Another thing I believe would help Wilder is feinting more himself.
The more Wilder feints, and the more he throws for contact rather than power, the more I
believe that he will be able to confuse Fury, and the more Wilder can confuse Fury the more
chances he should get to find the opening for the bomb he seeks to deliver.
Wilder is already improving when it comes to exploiting an opponent's mistake where
he can land the nuclear right.
But I believe feinting more will afford Wilder even more opportunities to study Fury's reactions
where he can create an opening or pounce on a mistake.
Wilder looked very frustrated at times against Fury in their first fight.
But this time I think Wilder will have the confidence where he knows he has the power
to hurt and drop Fury if he can get to him.
Fury is, by and large, a showman.
Fury enjoys playing to crowds, and he enjoys showboating where he tries to defeat his opponents
mentally - that aspect is every bit as important to Fury's strategy as is maintaining the distance
and providing an elusive target.
Wilder will of course want to remain patient and not overextend, but if Wilder exhibits
a little taunting and showboating of his own, this might possibly goad Fury into making
a mistake - but if he tries doing something like this, Wilder will need to remain calm
and collected without psyching himself into getting too caught up in something like that.
So before I make my official prediction, full disclosure!
I picked Fury to win by unanimous decision in their first fight, and I actually scored
the first fight for Fury.
In fact, I thought Fury won almost every round where he wasn't knocked down.
Furthermore, I'm usually inclined to favor the superior technician in a rematch, and
Fury is clearly a better boxer with a more well rounded skill-set.
Add to that the fact that Fury should be in better physical condition than he was 13 months
ago, and logically speaking, all signs for me would normally point to a Fury victory,
because I don't expect the flow of the rematch to go much differently this time around.
All of that being said, for my official prediction, I'm taking Deontay Wilder by 11th round knockout.
I believe Wilder has improved tremendously these past two years, where he has become
far less reckless and much better at capitalizing on the type of moments that score him knockouts.
In the Ortiz rematch in particular, Wilder was especially good at this.
Despite losing pretty much all of the first 6 rounds, Wilder never panicked.
He never lost his cool.
He confidently hung in there in a way that almost lulled Ortiz into a false sense of
security, and then bam!
One beautiful right hand and it was all over.
Fury is a highly skilled boxer who is defensively very responsible.
But I believe Wilder will make a lot of small tactical adjustments that increase his chances
of finding the mark against Fury.
I don't think it will be easy, I'm expecting Fury to put on a fine display where he wins
lots of rounds, and Fury has already proven he has no quit in him - but I believe the
menacing firepower of Deontay Wilder will win the day in the rematch, and I believe
Wilder will earn himself a valid claim to the lineal heavyweight championship.
Saturday night, February 22 at the MGM Grand, in a bout that will be broadcast on Pay-Per-View
in the United States - the highly anticipated rematch between WBC champion Deontay Wilder
and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury!
I cannot wait for this one.
Enjoy the fight everyone!
And may the best man win on that night!
Thanks for watching everyone, hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night!
This is Rummy's Corner.