There’s nothing like a good heavyweight world title tussle to energize the base and inspire contributions to my Sack. Fury-Wilder 3 got people talking and writing. Here’s the best of the best.
Revisiting the Curb Stomping
Hi Paul,
Just finished watching Fury Wilder 3. Here's my quick points:
- Wilder really won the first rounds (which Fury deliberately used to see what's new) and the fourth, when Fury foolishly thought it would be a great idea to stand and trade with him. Aside from that, the fight was "50 shades of a beatdown".
- Fury could've KOed Wilder early, but didn't need to because his gameplan to make it ugly and tire Wilder out was working to perfection.
- To those who say: "Wilder redeemed himself"....really? He threw some good jabs to the body the first 4 minutes, then abandoned his gameplan and reverted to drunk-punching (and not in the glorious Emanuel Burton/Augustus way), swinging for the fences. Wilder showed tremendous courage/heart, but we already knew that. He took a ferocious beating and maybe he know secretly wishes Breland would've been in his corner to stop Wilder from himself.
- The fight, while high on drama, was at times sloppy, lots of mauling rounds filled with somewhat clean punches here and there. But it was by design. Fury's gameplan reminded me so much of Lennox Lewis's gameplans, and the fact that they are two Kronk style fighters is not a mere coincidence.
Bet Wilder just became more appealing to other HWs because despite his extraordinary punch, he has been beaten down mentally AND physically, so I'm wondering at 35 how much does he have really left.
What say you?
-- Eddie
Hey Eddie.
All good points and I agree with most of them. Here’s my take on your thoughts:
– I gave Wilder the first and second rounds, although the second was really close and could’ve gone to either fighter. Aside from that, the only other round I gave him was the fourth, when he scored the knockdowns. I think Fury was semi-puzzled by Wilder’s early tactics and that may have led to a tough time for him--- if Wilder had stuck with the jab and the other stuff he was trying to do. Predictably, however, Wilder gave it all up and reverted to his usual non-style the first moment he tasted some leather. By the third, he was fully back to flinging wild punches with poor technique, utilizing zero ring IQ. And, also predictably, that’s when Fury took over.
– Yeah, if Fury had pressed, he would’ve taken Wilder out earlier. But he also had to keep an eye out for those wild, incoming bombs. So, he stayed smart and in control. Plus, like you said, everything with him and his plan was going smoothly. Some have said that Fury was carrying Wilder, intentionally inflicting punishment. I don’t know about that, but if he WAS doing that, it wasn’t very smart of him. You simply don’t carry a guy like Wilder, who has fight-ending one-punch power and will not stop throwing his bombs no matter how messed up he is.
– Again, I agree. We’ve seen Wilder be tough and bullishly self-confident. We knew that was in him and we knew he was so passionate about this rematch and about backing up the craziness he spewed after the last fight that he HAD to put in a tenacious effort. The real test of mettle with Wilder was whether he would be able to make the adjustments and employ the strategies needed to beat Fury. He failed at that.
– Sugar Hill has Fury fighting the perfect way for a big man, with a bit of Detroit-style killer instinct to make things entertaining and deadly-efficient. Yeah, very Kronk-style.
– Like I wrote earlier in the week, history tells us that humbled offensive beasts usually don’t last that long in the boxing wild. Mind you, Tyson Fury is a singular talent and most heavyweights CAN’T do what he did against Wilder. But other heavyweights likely won’t HAVE to do what Fury did anymore. Wilder carries the stink of a beaten man at this point-- both mentally and physically. He’s wounded prey. If he wants to hang around for anything other than a couple more decent paydays as the “opponent,” he needs to take some serious time off and get his head together. Then, he needs to get back in the gym and really work on making the necessary changes to both his technique and mindset. Age isn’t a factor, but everything inside his head IS.
Long Count?
Hello Paul,
1st let me say I'm a big fan of your work. I love reading your articles and it seems like you're one of the few who actually isn't biased to certain fighters. My point of writing you is that it seems no one is making any type of deal about the long count that Fury was given in the fight. I honestly think the ref screwed up and Wilder should have been awarded the KO if Fury didnt make the 10 count. Watch the fight again and watch how Fury gets dropped at the 17 second mark of rd 4 and then watch the clock as he gets back to his feet at the 2 second mark of round four, yet the ref is only at 8 seconds. The ref even looks at the timekeeper before restarting his count which he stopped at 4 secs to tell Wilder to get to his corner. 15 seconds went by and yet he only counted 8. Fury did nothing wrong here, the ref did and as a result Wilder ended up being koed when I think it should have been over in the 4th with Wilder winning but the ref screwed that up. What's your thoughts on this?
Thanks.
-- Jamel
Hey Jamel.
First, thanks for the kind words.
It’s interesting that you bring this up. As you may or may not know, I live in Mexico, so I was watching the Spanish-language telecast and the commentators were clearly confused by the count of the referee following that knockdown. They caught themselves and then worked back to match the referee count. After watching the video a few more times, I think Russell Mora was maybe a second or two late with the count, but we really don’t see too clearly when the count actually started and, IMO, it did not cost Wilder the KO. I’ve watched that knockdown about 15 times at this point, altering my count a little each time, and I always have Fury up at about by 8 or 9.
Another thing you have to remember is that the count for a knockdown is almost never 10 precise seconds, by the clock. It’s just never going to be that precise. For reference and just grabbing at a random knockdown from a random fight, Diego Corrales’ 8-count from Tony Weeks in the tenth round of his war with Jose Luis Castilo actually took 12-13 seconds by the clock. Human reaction time by the ref and timekeeper will very often make the count longer than the ticking seconds of the clock. Honestly, I’d say the human count is almost always going to be slower to some extent. I’d be wary of shady dealings if the ref’s count was ever FASTER than the actual time clock.
I can see everyone’s point with this, but I don’t think there’s anything there.
The New Fury
Paulie,
I don't think I've ever seen a fighter switchup his style and be so successful at it. Fury is known for fighting backwards and using his footwork. In the last two Wilder fights he's the exact opposite. Using his big 270 lb. and 6'9 frame to put pressure on his opponent. Fighting on the inside is one thing. But what Fury is doing is almost unstoppable. Leveraging his entire body weight against his opponent as if he's an offensive lineman, then using his height to force his opponent to bend their neck. Every HW would have extreme difficulties defending that type strategy.
Sugar Hill turned Fury into an unstoppable HW. Fury was never a power puncher, but with this new style his punches feel heavier because they're at closer range and his opponents are tiring down due to the weighted pressure of Fury leaning on them. Even if his opponent gets out of the grapple he can still revert to boxing.
This was the fight that boxing deserved.
There's no other matchup in boxing that would've provided this type excitement.
Where's all the fanboys and usual suspects who was craving for Fury v. Joshua? 6 months ago they bitched how Wilder was robbing boxing of the undisputed HW title fight that boxing fans craved. Now will these same weirdos proclaim that Joshua is robbing fans of an undisputed HW bout by exercising his rematch clause against Usyk? I'm glad we got Fury v Wilder 3 over Joshua v Fury.
Props to Fury...helluva fighter, once in generation heavyweight! If he was American he'd be a bigger star. But if he was American he'd be a Power Forward for the Lakers or a Left Tackle for the Raiders!!!!
-- Nail Rahman
Hey Nail.
Man. I remember writing the “Fury is needlessly boring” articles as recently as 2018-2019. It was frustrating to watch him pick and paw, fighting negatively to beat guys he could clearly steamroll. As I wrote previously while referring to another fighter: “There’s nothing more boring than a fighter who can punch his way through a brick wall, but, instead, prefers to stick thumbtacks into the wall, just far enough to hang a poster.”
But Sugar Hill has injected some of that Kronk gumption into him. And Fury, to his credit, has been a willing and brilliant recipient of that gumption. Unlike Wladimir Klitschko, who only took in part of the Emanuel Steward blueprint for big men, Fury has accepted it all. The end result has been pure brutal brilliance. And I agree, this version of Fury could very well be “unstoppable” and unbeatable against any of the current top heavyweights. Only Tyson Fury can beat Tyson Fury at this point.
As for Anthony Joshua...I think there’s zero doubt anymore that Fury is a much, much superior fighter and, honestly, “AJ” deserves to be an afterthought at this point. Unless he makes some fundamental changes to both his mindset and skill set, Joshua’s only real competitive value will be as a marketable, bankable fall guy for Fury. If both fighters stay at current form, Fury would walk all over him.
And don’t even get me started on the hypocrites...
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