.jpg)
LAS VEGAS – Tyson Fury hasn’t noticed any noticeable improvement in Deontay Wilder since their first fight.
The undefeated WBC heavyweight champion knocked out Dominic Breazeale in the first round and ended Luis Ortiz in the seventh round in his two fights after his controversial draw with Fury. England Fury has still noticed many flaws in Wilder’s performances, including in his two-minute, 17-second knockout of Breazeale on May 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Fury is sure that Breazeale was buzzing Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) before Wilder blew Breazeale (20-2, 18 KOs) with a right hand hitting his mandatory challenger on the back. Breazeale, wounded and backed into a corner, hit Wilder with a right hand on the side of his head and Wilder finally held him back.
“I have seen the fight with Dominic Breazeale,” Fury told a group of reporters this week as he promoted his rematch with Wilder at the MGM Grand. “The first round has wobbled. He cut himself and he was going. Then I saw [Wilder] throw it out, [Breazeale] enter a large right hand. So there was really no improvement. It was just like what it does. And then the second fight with Ortiz was very similar to the first one, but a little shorter. “
Wilder was late on all three scorecards when he hit 40-year-old Ortiz with a right hand that ended the 12-round rematch scheduled for the seventh round of November 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Cuban Ortiz (31-2, 26 KO, 2 NC) were ahead with 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 when their second bout ended at 2:51 in the seventh round.
“In my opinion, I don’t know what I thought of it, but I made him lose every round until the knockdown,” said Fury. “And it was practically similar to the first fight. I think it was the eleventh round that knocked him out in the first or tenth round. And he was practically similar to the first, as if he were winning the round, Ortiz, and his legs got tired because he is so old.
“And when he stayed there too long, it was just truncated. He also got up, so he can’t even hold a 50-year-old man on his back. So yes, we’re talking about the biggest boxer in history, and he hasn’t been able to keep a fifty year old down. So there is something to be said why he knocks on these men [down] and they always get up. “
Ortiz got to his feet but failed to beat referee Kenny Bayless’s count and Bayless stopped the fight with nine seconds remaining in the seventh round. Wilder shot Ortiz down three times in their first fight and stopped him in the tenth round of that March 2018 match at the Barclays Center.
Breazeale also got up before referee Harvey Dock counted to 10, but clearly he was in no condition to continue.
Based on these two results, Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) doesn’t think he has learned anything about Wilder from those two fights he didn’t already know.
“Nothing,” said Fury. “You know, before beating him last time, he has already beaten Luis Ortiz. So, he only had one outbreak of one round and then someone he had already beaten before. “
34-year-old Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) from Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a favorite to defeat 31-year-old Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) from Manchester, England in their rematch on Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Their 12-round fight will be the title of the four ESPN and FOX Sports pay-per-view show (21:00 ET / 18:00 PT; $ 79.99 HD).
Keith Idec is a senior writer / columnist for BoxingScene.com. It can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
.