Hello boxing fans and dedicated haters. Here’s another week’s worth of my bulbous sack, bulging with gooey, salty truth, in your face. Enjoy. This week, we have comments/questions regarding Deontay Wilder’s chances of beating Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s performance.
Deontay’s Chances
Hey Magno.
I want to believe that Deontay Wilder is going to walk into the ring on October 9 and rip that world title belt from Fury and bring it back to the USA, but my head won’t let me entertain that idea. He was so utterly dominated the last time that I don’t see any way possible that last fight doesn’t get repeated this fight. It looks like Malik Scott has him sharp and motivated and all of the right things are coming from that camp, but I don’t see Wilder as a guy who’s all that coachable or as someone who’s taken the last Fury fight as a learning experience to any extent. But like I said, I want to believe. So, Paul, give me some reasons to believe that Deontay has a chance in Fury part 3.
– Damon
Hey Damon.
We honestly don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with Wilder and Malik Scott. For all we know, Deontay has now taken the last Fury fight as a boxing come-to-Jesus moment/learning experience and is working diligently to fix some key weaknesses alongside Scott. I have faith in Scott’s acumen and ability to motivate-- honestly, more so than in Wilder’s acumen and ability to be motivated. But, again, we just don’t know what’s what with all of this until Wilder gets into the ring.
But Wilder may not need a full revamping and retooling. This has been said a million times, but it remains true-- His one-punch power will make up for a lot of other flaws and defects. Even if Wilder learned absolutely nothing from the second fight and didn’t improve a damn thing, he’s still got a legitimate shot at scoring a big KO win or at least buzzing Fury enough to keep him from doing what he wants to do.
I think we may see some changes in Wilder, maybe some more attention to the jab and some nuance added to his game. Being real, though, a man is who he is and Wilder, when pressed or under stress, will go back to being who he is.
There should also be a focus on Fury for this one. Will he be the same focused, ferocious fighter we saw last time or will he be “off” to the slightest degree?
Conventional boxing wisdom says that whoever won the first fight should win the rematch more convincingly. I had Fury winning their first fight by a slight margin and, of course, he did much better in beating Wilder in the rematch. Following that line of thought, part three should be even more decisive than parts one and two. But I don’t think I agree with conventional boxing wisdom in this case. I still have to favor Fury to win, but I see Wilder doing significantly better than the last time.
So, if you’re looking for some hope, there it is. Wilder should be on equal footing long enough for his one-punch power to pull him through.
Usyk Hater?
I just read your garbage article about Usyk beating Joshua [Notes from the Boxing Underground: Joshua-Usyk, The Postmortem] and all I can say is that you are the trash everyone says you are. You piss all over this man’s performance like you can do any better. I’d like to see you try. LOL. You show no class and no boxing knowledge by putting what Usyk did down [sic]. The man went in there and beat the favorite 3-belt champ and he did it with class and style. You are just a piece of shit. Quit your job and go away.
– Joe
Hey Joe.
I don’t know how, exactly, you read my column and got any “pissing all over” Usyk from it. I mostly pissed on Joshua and his lack of a coherent game plan and apparent lack of motivation. But I do believe that the mastery of Usyk’s performance has been greatly overblown by media and fans who always go way overboard when the right puff of hot air gets blown up their asses. The gushing over Usyk reminds me of when Billy Joe Saunders was the next boxing wizard after dominating David Lemieux or when Jamie Munguia was the next Mexican warrior superstar after destroying Sadam Ali. Remember when Lucas Matthysse was an undisputable monster/machine/destroyer or when Adrien Broner was Aaron Pryor and Floyd Mayweather rolled into one?
There’s no doubt that Usyk is a legit elite-level fighter, but save that “masterful” bullshit for the newbies, casuals, and swamp-assed media dolts on press row. What he did against Joshua was good, adequate, respectable...but it was hardly “masterful.” There are plenty of smart boxing minds who are coming out, saying exactly what I said. It was a good performance, but not a great one. Usyk went just as far as Joshua’s ineptitude allowed him and did just enough to get the win. I’ll add “smart” to “good,” but, again, I hold “great” to a higher standard.
Oh, and by the way...You are a fucking moron.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.