Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury II: Fury plays down punching power of knockout artist Wilder

Tyson Fury has played down the firepower of Deontay Wilder after suggestions that the knockout artist from Alabama might just be the biggest puncher in the history of boxing.

Indeed, so unimpressed is the Gypsy King with his opponent for this Saturday’s Las Vegas encounter for the ages, he has vowed to retreat to Morecambe and never box again if he steps out into the Sin City night as a loser in the early hours of Sunday.

“People go on about his knockout power and him being the biggest puncher in heavyweight history but who you have fought counts,” Fury explained. “Let’s not make any mistakes here, Deontay Wilder has fought 35 stiffs. Honestly, over here in American they call his level of opposition ‘tomato cans’.

“He has only had probably seven competitive fights, where people have actually tried to fight back, the rest were duck-egg dummies, only there to fall over. Wilder is not going to beat me, his power is not going to hurt me, it will bounce off me like I am bulletproof.

“Over here in America, that is how they build fighters up but I was fighting Derek Chisora for the British and Commonwealth title in my 15th fight, I was brought up on tough fights. I have always been in fights that I could lose, that is the difference between me and Wilder. Over here fighters get built to 20-0 by beating opponents who don’t fight back. Wilder’s KO power and ratio is padded.

“The only good man he has ever faced was me and I beat him after three years out and as weak as a robin at 17st 11oz with two shoulders on me like coathangers, and he still could not beat me then.”

Of course, Fury did not win that fight in the eyes of the judges who combined to make the December 2018 Los Angeles clash a majority draw. The 6ft 9in traveller insists he should have been awarded a decision, despite getting dropped twice in the contest.

“I’m not going to pussyfoot about the matter,” Fury added. “Wilder was one of the easiest fights I’ve ever had apart from the two knockdowns, it was a lopsided, one-sided mis-match in boxing skill and everything. It was an easy fight with strength, boxing ability, everything, apart from the two knockdowns that I didn’t see, I’ve been involved in much harder fights all the way through my career.

“I am not putting pressure on myself but if I cannot beat Deontay Wilder then I am no good. I won’t go down as a great or a champion, I will go back to Morecambe and never sniff boxing again in my life. I will be shit, total shit. That is how confident I am of kicking him all over that ring.

“Wilder is not going to beat me, his power is not going to hurt me, it will bounce off me like I am bulletproof. There is no losing and if he wants a rematch then he will lose again.”

The pair have enjoyed a lengthy and respectable relationship for nearly a decade now as both men kept an eye on each others’ careers from afar. It is, of course, far frostier these days and Fury does expect them to become friends in the long run, like many boxing rivals have in the past.

“We haven’t interacted since the press conferences,” Fury said. “That’s the only time I’ve spoken to him since the first fight. We used to interact a bit but I think his cookie crumbled in 2018 when he couldn’t beat me – he didn’t want to be mates anymore. It’s like I stole his marbles and didn’t give them back.

“And will we be friends in the long run? Not unless he’s going to come and move to Morecambe. I’ve got no plans to move to Alabama, I’ll tell you that now. I doubt our paths will cross again after this, maybe they will in the trilogy, who knows?”

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