The case for Wilder: How the Bronze Bomber can beat Tyson Fury

The case for Deontay Wilder is not a tough one to make.

It’s a curious statement in the context of Wilder’s previous two performances against Tyson Fury.

First, there was the breath-taking contest in 2018 that saw a dominant Fury controversially denied a victory on the scorecards, despite rising from the canvas during an almost biblical resurrection from a knockdown in the 12^th round.

Then came the onslaught as an entirely different Fury outgunned, outmuscled and outfought Wilder during a destructive assault that lasted seven bruising rounds in February last year.

Stripped of his WBC title during his 11^th defence, the emphatic nature of Wilder’s defeat left few in any doubt that Fury was the better fighter and a worthy successor to the Bronze Bomber’s crown.

So why then is it easy to make the case for Deontay Wilder to claim victory in the third and, likely, final instalment of this thrilling trilogy?

The answer is a familiar one by now and it lies in Wilder’s supernatural genetics.

The 35-year-old is without question the hardest power puncher of his generation; he has faced 41 different men over the course of his 13-year career and relieved all but one of their senses.

Fury remains the only man never to have been stopped by his American rival but even he has tasted the concussive force carried in the ‘Bronze Bomber’s brick fists.

“It’s like, going into a bar and picking a fight with somebody at the bar,” Fury’s co-promoter and Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum told talkSPORT this week.

“And that guy at the bar is not as big or doesn’t look as brave but has a gun with him at the bar.

“That is the risk you take! You’re beating the hell out of the guy and he pulls a gun out, he shoots you and he wins the fight.

“He comes into the fight with a loaded gun and if you spend all your time avoiding the loaded gun, he can beat you.”

But what makes Wilder hit so hard? How has a fighter with a frame more akin to a basketball player than a heavyweight world champion etched his name into boxing folklore with his freakish power?

"Back home we talk about my punches as being like a whip," Wilder told Boxing News back in 2013.

"And the most painful part of the whip is the tip. That's where I do my damage, right at the end of my punches. The tip of the whip.

"My power is totally natural. I really don't try to knock guys out. I've just always been able to punch hard and have always been strong.

"Even back when I was a 185-lb footballer, I'd lift as much as the biggest guys on the team. There I was this little, skinny guy doing everything the bigger guys were doing. Nobody could believe it."

Wounded after such a one-sided loss to Fury last time the two fighters met, Wilder made wholesale changes to his camp during a period of transition over the past 18 months.

Long-time coach Mark Breland – who, in Wilder’s eyes, committed an unforgivable act in throwing the towel in to rescue his fighter that night – was sent packing while head trainer Jay Deas was demoted.

Wilder turned instead to one-time opponent and frequent sparring partner Malik Scott to run the corner for him ahead of the third fight in what will be Scott’s first ever outing as a head trainer.

"I am a student of the game,” Scott said this week.

“Deontay ruled the division and was using one weapon but sometimes two or three.

"I've watched him in the gym for 10 years, sparring guys from different walks of life stylistically, and watched him be creative but when he gets in the fight he'll use just one or two tools.

"He got content using one weapon to knock people out - I went into his toolbox and made sure we drilled it over and over again.

"I don't have him doing choreographed pad work, ducking down to the ground - he is fighting a tall guy. I don't want my fighter catching punches, I want him to slip punches, parry punches.

"He's more dynamic, more open-minded and this is the best Deontay Wilder people are going to see."

The man himself appears to be motivated by revenge entering this trilogy bout, keen to deliver retribution after believing himself to have been cheated out of the WBC title.

In the aftermath of losing his world championship, Wilder accused Fury of using gloves filled with a hardened substance – and even suggested former coach Breland had spiked him with muscle relaxants prior to his infamous ring walk.

The allegations have been flatly denied by all parties but the hard-headed Wilder doubled down on his beliefs during a recent interview with 78SPORTSTV, saying: “You think he ain’t gonna try to cheat this time?

“Oh they’re thinking, they’re coming up with a master plan.

“But my thing to him – man, you couldn’t even get me out on loaded gloves and the conditions I was under.

“You couldn’t knock me out, you didn’t knock me out.”

Whether he truly believes his own words, or whether they were the tall tales of a showman selling the third fight, remains to be seen.

Yet for all his flaws, Wilder, the wounded animal, remains as dangerous as he has ever been. 

Can Fury repeat his heroics to retain the belt – or will the Bronze Bomber reap his revenge in the trilogy?

Watch Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 exclusively live on BT Sport Box Office HD from midnight on Saturday 9 October. Click here for more information on how to buy this unmissable event.