As Tyson Fury would say, Deontay Wilder is the fiercest puncher in boxing history and his record definitely proves it right. Wilder has a professional record of 42 wins and 41 ended knockouts. He is the definition of knockout power, his style may not be the most aesthetically pleasing to watch but he puts people on the canvas.
For the first time in his pro career, Deontay Wilder will be going in as a decent underdog. To be honest, betting on Wilder on a knockout is tempting since he only needs one perfect punch to end the night and he has proven that with his fight against Luiz Ortiz. That is the beauty of the heavyweight division, it only takes one punch.
Wilder’s best path to winning is most likely by knockout since he could not outbox a technical striker like Tyson Fury. There was only one fight that Wilder won via decision and it was against Stiverne. It was his first title shot for the WBC belt, but eventually, they got to run it back, and Wilder finished it in under one round.
Most of the heavyweights pack a punch but they don’t possess the power that Wilder has. They say that power cannot be trained but rather people are born with it and it is likely the case with Wilder. He started boxing a bit late but he still ended up winning a bronze medal in the Olympics.
It is understandable that Wilder is going in as an underdog since he arguably lost the first fight as many saw Fury edging most of the rounds and in the rematch Fury demolished him and even knocked him down a few times. Wilder then decided to change camps and hired his former opponent and friend, Malik Scott.
Will changing coaches impact Wilder’s chances in beating Fury? Wilder was under Mark Breland prior to it who was also a well-accomplished boxer. He said that he has been training Wilder’s fundamentals for a long time but never got to use it inside the ring. Wilder gets away with it simply because of his power.
But on the rematch with Fury, he did not get away with it. Fury exposed Wilder’s weaknesses like Wilder could not fight on the back foot. Once you neutralize Wilder’s right hand, the threat is gone. Wilder may be working on other strategies and improve his fundamentals like jabs and other combos. Although working on the fundamentals takes years and Wilder is already 35 years old which is a bit late to work on it.
The trilogy will take place at T-Mobile Arena on 9 October. It will be interesting to see who will reign supreme. Will Wilder be able to come back from his only loss or will Fury just dominate again and prove that he is just the better boxer? Wilder will be more hungry than ever and that is a dangerous boxer to face.
