Past bouts suggest Tyson Fury will triumph but with neither man having fought for 19 months nothing can be ruled out
Tyson Fury was so dominant when he dismantled and then knocked out Deontay Wilder the last time they stepped into the ring, in February 2020, that all logical thinking points to another decisive victory for the WBC world heavyweight champion when they meet for a third time on Saturday night in Las Vegas. But logic and heavyweight boxing are often barely on nodding terms and a Wilder victory, with a brutal stoppage offering his best hope, cannot be dismissed. Yet it would be a shock and offer proof that there is little sense and rational thinking left in boxing’s strangest division.
Fury’s absolute authority last year, and his bold strategy of taking the fight to Wilder to show that he could beat up rather than just outbox the previously undefeated American, seemed to have settled a long and simmering rivalry. Their first world title bout, in Los Angeles in December 2018, had been a riveting affair. Fury was the far superior boxer and he built a clear advantage on points despite being dropped twice by Wilder.
