It doesn’t sound like the bad blood is quite settled between these two heavyweights … even after a historic three-fight saga.
Coming into their third fight, Tyson Fury was the big odds favorite to beat Deontay Wilder — a -285 favorite to be precise, over Wilder’s +225 dog status. But, everyone who knows Wilder knows you can never count him out. He’s lost every round in a fight only to come back and knock his opposition out stone cold. And during the Fury vs. Wilder 3 trilogy last night (Sat., Oct. 9, 2021), Wilder almost pulled it off, dropping Fury twice in the fourth round (watch highlights from Fury vs. Wilder 3 here).
He also had a decent amount of success whenever the two heavyweights weren’t battling in the clinch against each other and the referee. But, for every clean big right Wilder landed, Fury tied him up and tired him out two or three times. By the sixth round, Wilder was clearly tired. And while his power never disappeared, he was unable to channel it with all the repeated clinches.
Wilder was taken to the hospital immediately following the fight as a precautionary measure so we didn’t get to hear any post-fight press conference quotes from him. But, Boxing Scene did get the following statement from “Bronze Bomber.”
“I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough,” Wilder said. “I’m not sure what happened. I know that in training he did certain things, and I also knew that he didn’t come in at 277 to be a ballet dancer. He came to lean on me, try to rough me up and he succeeded.”
If it sounds like there’s still a certain lack of respect from Wilder toward Fury, that’s because there apparently is. After the fight, Fury spoke at the press conference and revealed how the two parted ways after Tyson had his hand raised again.
“I went over to shake his hand and say well done and he was like, ‘No, I don’t respect you,’” Fury said. “I was like, ‘How can you say I’ve cheated when you know in your own heart and your full team knows that you just got beat fair and square. So it’s just like he’s a sore loser in boxing, I’m sure he’s not the first one and he won’t be the last one.”
Don’t think that bad blood will stoke a fourth Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder fight, what with Fury now leading things 2-0-1. According to Fury, “The saga is done for good.”
For complete “Fury vs. Wilder 3” event results and play-by-play, click HERE.