By Sean Crose
“I’m ready,” former WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder said on Wednesday’s The PBC Podcast. “I hope they are ready.” Wilder was referring, of course, to current WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who he will meet for the third time on October 9th in Vegas. “I know he wasn’t doing well in camp. The young guys were piecing him up,” Wilder said. “I had a young guy from my camp who was piecing him up.” Whether or not Fury has had a tough time preparing for Wilder may remain to be seen. Wilder, however, appears to be the picture of confidence.
Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott, backed up his fighter’s assertion of what’s transpired in Fury’s camp. “When you hear those kinds of rumors with this type of high caliber fight,” he said, “those are not rumors, those are facts.” Wilder has teamed up with Scott after being dominated by Fury in the rematch of their 2018 fight. Although the initial Fury-Wilder bout ended in a somewhat controversial draw, the rematch saw Fury completely dominate his man until Wilder co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the seventh. Wilder blamed his former trainer at least in part for that loss – to great criticism. Now, he’ll have to prove Fury isn’t the better fighter by besting the Englishman in their third go round.
“In the time off we have done nothing but work, work, work,” Wilder claimed. “Even when my body rested, my mind was still at it.” There is little doubt that Wilder took the loss in stride. “I had to get rid of the snakes in my team,” he said, “and I had to get in people who really love me. I needed soldiers.” Wilder sees Scott as a trainer who can lead him to victory. In truth, the third Fury-Wilder fight may all come down to whether or not Wilder can get in and land on his man effectively – something Wilder wasn’t able to do in the rematch.
“I’m a king,” said Wilder. “When a king falls he has to strategize, and get back up. There is no point in moping, sitting back. You’ve got to pick yourself up, make yourself and the people around you stronger.” Fury himself was able to put a new trainer to great use in his second fight with Wilder. Sugar Hill Steward was able to turn Fury from a slick boxer to a Kronk style destruction machine. It will be interesting to see what both men bring to the table this time around.