Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder 42-1-1 (41) is champing at the bit to hurt conqueror Tyson ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury 30-0-1 (21) in his bid to regain the green belt when the duo meets for the third time in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24.
The 35-year-old American spent most of last year lobbying for an immediate rematch against Fury following his one-sided seventh-round knockout loss to the 32-year-old Brit in Las Vegas in February 2020.
Earlier this month an independent arbitrator ruled that Fury must face Wilder again as per the terms of their last fight contract, scuttling a proposed four-belt unification bout between Fury and WBA, WBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua 24-1 (22) that was expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on August 14.
“My mentality is – you’ve been contemplating about hurting a person so bad, to the point you wanna disfigure him so his mother wouldn’t even know who he was. You wanna decapitate him in every way, like premeditated stuff,” said Wilder to 78SPORTSTV.
“Now that we have an ETA and location of where we’re about to go, it makes training much more intensified. Now it means something now. It’s for certain now.”
Wilder and Fury first met in Los Angeles in December 2018. That fight ended in a controversial split draw after Wilder dropped Fury twice late in the contest, allowing him to retain the WBC strap.
“There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You got to go through me. I’m the hardest puncher in heavyweight history, and I’m going to continue to do that,” Wilder continued.
“I’m ready to get this title back. We were contractually obligated to have a fight.
“He gave his word. When you do all that – and we have the proof – you got to abide by that. You got to handle the business, and you can’t close the chapter without going through Deontay Wilder.”
Wilder is unfazed by public resentment about his trilogy fight derailing the long-negotiated Fury-Joshua bout, claiming the WBC champion pursued the all-British bout as a way of avoiding him.
“Of course, I look at it as a coward way of trying to avoid me,” said Wilder, who has added co-trainer Malik Scott to his team to work alongside Jay Deas.
Wilder’s co-manager Shelly Finkel recently warned against underestimating the former champion’s hunger and will to win.
“He’s training harder for this fight. He’s been training since August, July, physically. Now he’s been training tactically,’ he said to Sky Sports.
“It’s eight weeks from tomorrow, the fight. There is no reason to talk, because no matter what anyone says, most people aren’t going to believe it unless he proves it in the ring.”
Malik Scott is equally upbeat about Wilder’s chances.
“I have no doubts that he’s going to be a two-time heavyweight champion of the world,” he said.
