Wilder: "I'm doing good. Things like this happen. The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel and I was ready to go out on my shield. I had a lot of things going on heading into this fight. It is what it is, but I make no excuses tonight."
"I just wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield. I'm a warrior. He had a great performance and we will be back stronger."
"Even the greatest have lost and came back, that is just part of it. You just take it for what it is. I can make no excuses tonight. I had a lot of complications."
'"But we'll come back stronger next time around. This is what big-time boxing is all about, the best must fight the best. I appreciate all the fans that came out and supported the show, and I hope that everyone gets home safely.'"
Fury: “A big shout out to
Deontay Wilder. He came here tonight and he manned up. And he really did show the heart of a champion. I hit him with a clean right that dropped him, and he got back up. He is a warrior. He will be back. He will be a champion again. But I will say, the king has returned to the top of the throne!"
Referee Bayless: “I had concerns for Deontay and I asked him if he wanted to continue, and he wanted to continue, because Deontay is a warrior,” Bayless told RingTV.com Sunday morning after the fight. “But I looked in on him after the sixth, because I had concerns about him. He was taking too much punishment. If the corner didn’t stop it, I was very close to stopping it myself.”
Jay Deas, Wilder's chief second: “I’m the head coach of the team, and 99-percent of the time, the head coach of the team is the guy who’s the lead in the corner,” Deas told RingTV.com . “Ours is a little like an American football team. The head coach doesn’t necessarily call the plays. You have an offensive and defensive coordinator.
“We’re a little bit like that. During the (seventh), Mark said something about throwing the towel in. I told him, ‘Don’t do that.’ I didn’t think he should do that. Deontay is the kind of the guy that goes out on his shield. He will tell you straight up — don’t throw the towel in. Then the fight went a little bit longer and I saw the towel go in. I haven’t talked to Mark about it, but we’ll talk about it and figure out what exactly happened.”
Eddie Hearn, Promoter of Anthony Joshua: Courtesy of Talk Sport
“I’ve already spoken to AJ and he wants to go into this fight next."
“We have to make this fight happen. We will never, ever get the chance for two Brits to fight for an undisputed heavyweight world championship. I promise you we will do everything we can to make this fight. It has to happen.
“We will never get this opportunity in this sport to do this again with two Brits. I’ve already spoken to AJ – he wants to go straight into this fight next. He loves the Tyson fight, he has has zero fear of fighting
Tyson Fury. He has been through everything already and he wants to be undisputed and this is the chance for our sport to have one of those legacy moments that we will never get the opportunity to have again.
"I heard out of his camp he was going to be aggressive and go for it and I thought it was absolute madness and it ended up being genius from him and his team. Just a wonderful performance. What a time for British boxing – an incredible night. I felt like he could school him but I didn’t think he could school him and beat him up, and he did that.”
Wilder vs Fury 2 OddsUpdate Feb 21
The pendulum has shifted a bit this week. Now, Deontay is a slight betting favorite depending on who you ask. As of Thursday, February 20, bet365, skybet, CORAL, Lodibrokes and BETVICTOR are deadlocked at 10/11 for both fighters.
But, UNIBET and BETDAQ have Wilder as the thin betting favorite at 17/20 and 20/21, respectively, with Fury at 21/20. Also, betfair likes Deontay 20/21 to Tyson's 21/20.
The popular William Hill places Wilder at -125 favorite at William Hill US while Fury is a +100 underdog. For this scenario, a successful $125 wager on Wilder would generate $100 in return while a $100 bet on Fury would double your wager ($200).
The odds of a draw range from 18 to 26-1.
Why the late shift?Rumors have leaked from Fury's team that suggest he didn't have a good training camp. Also, Fury, within 48-72 hours of the fight, admitted his ankles weren't 100 percent, suggesting he could have been injured in camp or from his stint in WWE.
Previous OddsAs of Nov 27, Wilder was a slight underdog
Wilder +105 (21/20)
Fury -125 (4/5)
Hence, a $100 bet on Wilder would have paid $105, while you would have had to bet $125 on Fury to earn $100. Prior to their first fight, Wilder was listed at a -170 favorite while Fury was a +140 underdog.
Tyson entered their first bout having had just two tune-ups against fringe opposition since his exodus from the sport and didn't appear to be in top form despite dominating both opponents so it was no surprise Wilder was favored, albeit slightly
Perceived Methodology (for Fury being the previous favorite)Although their first bout in December was ruled a draw, Fury appeared to befuddle and outbox the aggressive Wilder throughout. And despite two Wilder knockdowns of Fury, many believed Tyson did enough to earn the decision.
Many believe Wilder has no answer for Fury's reach and boxing ability from the outside. Moreover, in their December 2018 affair the Brit demonstrated he can take a good shot. And when Wilder had Fury hurt, the latter fought back well.
Secondly, we saw technical brawler
Luis Ortiz win at least 10 of 15 combined full rounds against Deontay in their two fights together. Yes, Wilder won by KO both times but appeared to be getting outboxed in each situation by the slower, less rangy Ortiz.
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Wilder vs Fury 2 Expert Predictions)
Expert: Thomas Hearns - Wilder by decision Former 4 Division Champion / Boxing Legend
Courtesy of BoxingNews24
The Hitman, whose style was like a 80s and 90s version of a small
Deontay Wilder likes the WBC Champ.
“
Deontay Wilder can box and win, but I think that his power will be the difference in defeating
Tyson Fury. I believe that it will go to a decision again, but with
Deontay Wilder winning it.”
Larry Holmes - Wilder by KO, 7 or 8 Former Heavyweight Champion / Boxing Legend
Courtesy of BoxingNews24
“
Deontay Wilder will knock out
Tyson Fury in the seventh or eighth round if he does what I know that he can do, which is stay on the outside, use his jab, throw that right hand over the jab.”
Oleksandr Usyk - Fury
Former Lineal Cruiserweight Champion / Top 10 Pound for Pound Fighter / Top 10 Heavyweight
Courtesy of Ren TV
Usyk picked Fury previously and is even more assertive this time around. He seems to suggest he was impressed by Fury's performance in December 2018 and believes Fury will ride his skills, notably his footwork and upper body movement, to at least a points win.
“I preferred
Tyson Fury in the first fight.In the second, I will probably be more inclined towards him."
“He has much more skills than Wilder. But Wilder is such an unpredictable guy who can hit at any moment.”
Anthony Joshua - FuryWBA/IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champion, Potential Wilder and/or Fury opponent
Courtesy Pep Talk UK
“I think that he came close the first time to the point of a draw, it wasn’t like a 12-round masterclass then got battered in the 12th and that just separated it.
“It was a draw, it was that close. So I just think
Tyson Fury is going to correct his wrongs and come back and win.”
David Haye - Wilder Former Cruiserweight Champion / Legend; Former WBA Heavyweight Champion
Courtesy of BT Sport
“Fury boxed brilliantly first time around, that was with Ben Davison in his corner. He doesn’t have Ben in the corner this time.
“In his last fight, he got a couple of horrendous cuts over his eye. That could open up again, which would mean he’d have the same fight with one eye.
“Trying to beat
Deontay Wilder with two eyes is tough enough.
“The fact that I’m hearing he’s putting on additional weight, which may slow his mobility down, his speed and reflexes down, I have to go with
Deontay Wilder by stoppage.”
Wladimir Klitschko, former heavyweight champion / legendCourtesy of BoxingScene
"Either Wilder is going to knock out Fury or Fury is going to win on points...."
“I think, or I wish, that actually Fury, believe it or not, might make it. Maybe not, but I wish he’s going to. And then there’s supposed to be a rematch between Fury and me. Am I announcing now a comeback? No I’m not. Mark my words, I’m not announcing a rematch.
“But it could possibly be a good mix when, all of a sudden, Fury is going to win and a lot of different doors are going to open and excitement and things like that. But as I said, Wilder is going to win by knockout or Fury could win on points.”
Teddy Atlas, famed trainer and commentator - Wilder by KOCourtesy of The Fight
"You can win all the rounds with Wilder, you can box better, but his opponent always reminds me a guy who fells from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Falling, he passes the fiftieth floor and asks people looking in the window: "How am I?". People shout: "Now you're alright, man!" This is how going on in the fight with Wilder. Everything is going well, but you are falling from a skyscraper, and a land is getting closer. Therefore it is better to look for the parachute before a tragedy happens," said Atlas.
"The problem of Fury is also in the fact that he can not do in the ring more than he did in the first fight. Wilder can fight better than the first time, he has more room for improvement," said Atlas.
Bernard Hopkins, Fight Legend - Wilder by KO
Courtesy of SecondsOut
"When you look at Fury, where is the credit... other than showing the ability and heart not to get discouraged and barely beating the count... It's a victory for Fury that he survived and Wilder slacked up in the later championship rounds."
"TAKE THAT AWAY [and] Wilder was winning the fight pretty easily to me!"
"What can happen the second fight after knowing you've [already] been in there with a guy.... It'll be one-sided. It'll be very calculated."
Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez outlines winning strategy for the Bronze Bomber:"
Deontay Wilder is a strong fighter, but we've all seen the flaws that he had in the first fight," Teofimo explained during an interview with FightHub TV. "Deontay has a beautiful one-two...strongest one-two in the game, literally. But if he can't hit you, it doesn't matter."
"Wilder has to commit more. Wilder can't think so much, and he can't be so stiff when he's throwing his punches. But that's how Wilder is when he throws his one-two's. He needs to be more relaxed and not throw the same looping shots over and over. If you throw the same shots at
Tyson Fury, he'll figure out your timing and rhythm and make you miss. That's what
Tyson Fury was doing in the first fight...over and over."
"
Tyson Fury is really good at controlling range. Wilder has to mix up his punches better and go to the body more frequently. The only way you close that distance is to go the body first and work your way up. They're both tall. So you can go for the body. It's much harder when fighting a smaller fighter, but they're both tall."
"That's what he has to change. He has to touch the body more and use his jab. Wilder has a strong, fast jab. Instead of throwing straight loops to the head all of the time, mix it up...go to the body. Tyson is always moving his head, but that body is still there and you can touch it. Don't come out headhunting."
Joseph Herron, FightSaga writer: (Recent) History tells us that fighters who believe they rightfully won a controversial first meeting in an elite level match-up, go on to decisively lose the return bout
Let's examine the first bout between Andre Ward and
Sergey Kovalev as well as the first match-up between
Canelo Alvarez and
Gennady Golovkin as examples.
... So although Fury genuinely believes he deserved to receive a unanimous decision victory over
Deontay Wilder in their first meeting, his attitude heading into the return bout is uncomplacent. Tyson is truly convinced that he is incapable of receiving a decision victory, even though he genuinely feels he outboxed his opponent for ten of the twelve rounds in their first match.
Will a changed strategy prove to be to his advantage of February 22nd?
Perhaps.
(More
Wilder vs Fury 2 Expert Predictions)
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