WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder defends his title in a pay-per-view bout vs. Tyson Fury. Get your fight week coverage here on Bloody Elbow.
There are two UFC shows, two Bellator shows, but the biggest fight of the weekend is undoubtedly the heavyweight title showdown between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) and lineal champion Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs). Yes, Fury is the lineal champ by virtue of beating Wladimir Klitschko, and obviously he’s never lost in the ring.
Many fans presumably would’ve preferred to see Wilder against Anthony Joshua, but that’s not in the cards for this year, and since it’s boxing, I wouldn’t be shocked if we didn’t see this in 2019. That doesn’t mean this particular fight isn’t intriguing, though. Wilder has truly terrifying knockout power and demonstrated great courage and toughness to battle back from Luis Ortiz nearly finishing him, as “The Bronze Bomber” knocked the Cuban out in the 10th round. It’s by far the biggest win of his career, and an in-shape Fury would top that.
Fury returned to the ring in 2018 after losing his boxing license and his belts over well-documented drug test failures, substance abuse, and mental health problems. To his credit, he has lost plenty of weight, won his tune-up bouts, and seems to be in a good place ahead of this big opportunity for him to win back a major heavyweight title. He is not nearly the concussive puncher as Fury, but the provocative and controversial figure is a tricky customer who may pose problems for Wilder based on his technical abilities and crafty footwork.
As for the undercard? It’s pure trash, even by boxing PPV standards. I wouldn’t recommend any of those matchups as must-watch from a competitive standpoint. Luis Ortiz and Joe Joyce are two heavyweights on the card, but they’re fighting huge underdogs in Travis Kauffman and Joe Hanks, respectively. Unified junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd is an outstanding and exciting talent, but he’s recovering from major shoulder surgery and thus is getting a tune-up for a title defense against Jason Welbourn. The good news is we should see Jarrett Hurd vs. Jermell Charlo in 2019, but beyond that, the PPV is all about the main event.
Wilder vs. Fury is set for Showtime PPV on December 1st from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The broadcast starts at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT. Bloody Elbow will have live fight week coverage, play-by-play, results, and more. We will also have a preview and a free live stream of the WBC light heavyweight title fight between Adonis Stevenson vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk from Quebec, which is the lead-in to the PPV broadcast.