By: Hans Themistode
Deontay Wilder is scary as hell.
It has nothing to do with his 6 foot 7 inch height. The WBC Heavyweight titlist barely cracks 200 pounds whenever he steps on the scale so that can’t be the reason either.
The loud yelling of his catchphrase “BOMBSQUAD,” also isn’t the scariest thing in the world. Especially if you have earplugs to drown it out.
No, what’s terrifying about Wilder is just how hard he hits.
As a young kid, have you ever done something that you know you had no business doing? Of course you did.
Do you remember that feeling of apprehension once your parents found out? Of course you do.
You knew that a butt whooping was coming. Well, that is essentially the same feeling that Wilder gives his opponents once he steps inside of the ring against them.
Wilder has been called a lot of things. A terrible boxer, he has horrible technique and even overrated. But one thing he’s never been called is an easy fight.
Apparently, there’s a first time for everything.
“I would say that was one of my easiest fights, to be fair,” said Fury when posed with the question regarding whether or not Wilder was the most difficult fight of his career. “Other than the two knockdowns, it was a pretty one-sided fight. Deontay Wilder’s not my toughest opponent – that’s for sure.”
Let’s recap the first fight between these two men which took place in 2018, to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
It’s true that Wilder was getting outboxed for roughly 90 percent of the contest. But it’s also true that Fury found himself staring up at the ceiling lights not once, but twice.
Without the knockdowns, the contest between these two would be an easy one to score. But the fact of the matter is, there were two knockdowns and that simply cannot be erased.
Even with Fury absorbing some of the biggest blows of his life, he remains adamant that Wilder is nowhere near the top of his list in terms of the best he’s fought.
“I’m telling you, Deontay Wilder was hands down one of my easiest fights.”
So who exactly would Fury consider his most difficult opponent?
With the sort of resume that he possesses, he could choose from a long list of champions and worthy contenders that he has stepped inside of the ring against.
How about long time Heavyweight contender and British rival Dereck Chisora? The two battled it out back in 2010 and 2014 with Fury coming out with the victory each time. Kevin Johnson is another good to be mentioned here. The former Heavyweight contender has fought seemingly everyone throughout his career.
Both of those men failed to make the cut.
The most difficult fight in the career of Fury came back in 2015. Long reigning unified champion Wladimir Klitschko gave Fury all he could handle when the two fought back in 2015.
That’s both the obvious choice isn’t it? Wrong.
The most arduous contest of Fury’s career came back in 2013, against an opponent you would have never even thought of.
“My toughest opponent in my whole career was Steve Cunningham. He was a former cruiserweight champion. I fought him in 2013 in New York, Madison Square Garden, and that was the toughest fight I ever had.”
Fury would go on to stop Cunningham in the seventh round of their contest but not before he was sent crashing down to the canvas in the second. At the time of the stoppage, Fury needed it desperately as he trailed on two of the judges scorecards, 57-55. The remaining judge had the fight even at the time of the stoppage.
So what made Cunningham a more difficult opponent than both Wilder and Klitschko? The answer might surprise you.
“At that time in me life, I had never fought anybody like Steve Cunningham,” Fury said. “He won the [IBF] cruiserweight title and defended it maybe seven times or something like that. He was a unified champion and it was my step up to anybody with that type of ability. And he was slick, and he was hard to hit. He was very awkward, and he was a very good boxer, so that was the toughest fight of me life.”
Cunningham went on to have a 5-3-1 record as a Heavyweight. He would later move back down to the Cruiserweight division before ending his career in 2017.
As is always the case in boxing, styles make fights. And it seems as though Wilder has the sort of style that Fury has very little issues with.
With that being said, in just a few more days Fury will be given the chance to prove that a match with Wilder is a much easier fight than many would like to believe.
