When Deontay Wilder landed a right hand followed by a picture-perfect left hook to send Tyson Fury to the canvas in their first fight in December 2018, it appeared the fight was done. But Fury rose up like The Undertaker from WWE and continued until the final bell. The bout ended up being scored a split draw.
An immediate rematch looked to be on the horizon for the summer of 2019. To the surprise of many, Fury changed course and signed with legendary promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank to stage his contests in the United States. After two fights on American soil, victories over Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin, the highly anticipated sequel is finally here, when Fury and Wilder meet on Saturday night for Wilder's WBC heavyweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The crowd will be roaring from the time Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) and Fury enter the ring until the first horn sounds for the fight to begin. And during that brief moment before the fight, Wilder says Fury will be thinking about the thunderous two-punch combination that nearly put him to sleep — and he thinks that image has been running through Fury's head for more than 14 months.
"Round 12 has been on his mind since day one," Wilder at a Wednesday media roundtable. "That's why he's been running from a rematch. Round 12 has been living in his head for a while."
During the lead-up, Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) has continuously shrugged off Wilder's notion that he can't stop thinking about the 12th round and held off the rematch because of a concussion. But Wilder isn't buying what "The Gypsy King" is trying to sell.
"Although I'm the one that has the punching power to get guys out but I'm also thinking like a pony. If I was fighting myself ... of course, I would think about any fight. If you hear certain things about a person, and you're getting ready to fight them, those things that have been told, the tales they've been told about that individual you kind of keep that in the back of your mind. They say this to you know slay three wolves and kill two lions and hug the bear. Whether you believe it or not, you keep that in the back of your head.
"When it comes to reality, you have to fight that person. (When) you witness it for yourself, it becomes even more out of your head: I've been there with him the first time. I know what he’s capable of doing now. I felt it. There was a point in time I was given a concussion but I don’t even know how I got on the ground or how I got up. I just know when I got up, it was a miracle, hallelujah, thank you, Jesus.
"If he says different than he’s lying because I'm a fighter and I understand this," Wilder continued. "I know that this is the hurt business. (Boxing) is a brutal sport. I’ve always said and I’ll forever say it until the end of my career — we risk our lives. When you’re talking about putting your life on the line, you don’t forget anything about that person whether he didn't hurt you or not. You don’t forget about those things. So coming into this fight, he knows what he’s in for."
A win for Wilder would be his 11th successful title defense, which would break a tie with Muhammad Ali on the career list for the most consecutive title defenses. The "Bronze Bomber" plans on going into Round 13 with the same focus and reminding everyone that he isn't going anywhere until he says it's time for him to leave the sport.
"I just want to let the world know that we have a badass named Deontay Wilder here in America, and he ain’t going nowhere for a very long time," Wilder said.