Tyson Fury v. Deontay Wilder II (the nervous breakdown)

Tyson Fury v. Deontay Wilder II (the nervous breakdown)

A low-level Twitter war broke out last night as I looked through opinion regarding the Feb. 22 rematch.  There’s plenty of opinion, people seeming to look for new angles, even when there are only two worth considering.

You either believe in “The Bomb” or you believe in Tyson Fury’s boxing ability.  I didn’t even realize Fury had boxing ability until I saw Tyson-Fury I.  I was both surprised and impressed as Fury hadn’t shown me much of boxing in previous fights.   That’s not to say Fury is a brilliant boxer, just a competent   one, at least until the later rounds when he did an unexpected face plant beneath Wilder’s wild bombs. 

Just below is a sampling of people who piled on to my opinion of a Wilder KO  even after I’d admitted Fury did a superior job in the first fight.  “Superior” meaning superior to Wilder who kept waiting for the big punch which finally came in the late rounds.  I keep thinking about how wonderful it would be if Wilder had both boxing and bomb squad gifts.

So TonesLopez agrees with me even if most people do not.  I’d hazard a guess that this “most people” pile-on comes from British fans.  This is not to disparage their loyalty nor their beliefs.  Tyson Fury has won me over just as much for his entertainment and personality values as for his boxing skill.  Compared to boxing’s greatest boxers, Fury’s combinations are highly predictable.  He does everything but post neon signs announcing his next onslaught of punches.  It is during one such announcement that he is likely to get tagged with a Wilder head-seeking missile. 

Why did Fury go down from those punches from a smaller man?  I’ll ask also, on behalf of Fury’s fans, how he managed to get up.  That was something that did impress me although it seemed to me he got the advantage of a Dempsey Long Count.  Still, he did get up, whether it be eleven seconds or within ten, as the referee ruled. I’m not a timekeeper so I wouldn’t go further than stating my own impression.

I’d imagine you’ve already heard enough of my opinion, especially since it is the same opinion expressed by hundreds of other people.  Deontay Wilder will knock Tyson Fury out in the rematch, boxing skills notwithstanding.  Unless.. . . . . (drum roll and strike up the band) Tyson Fury does what he says he’d do in a recent pre-fight television interview — get to Wilder in the early rounds (round 2, he said) and knock him out.  

I can’t see that happening.   Guys like Deontay Wilder will go after you even when they’re dead.  I’ve seen it before.  Right now I’m thinking of the late Diego Corrales — beaten every which way, death and resurrection, going on to the end a winner.  So even if Fury can manage to overwhelm Wilder with an unending and furious flurry of punches in the early rounds, Wilder will rise from the crypt and punish the giant with Thor’s hammer blows.  Aren’t you nervous about that?