Boxing fans have branded Deontay Wilder ‘delusional’, after the heavyweight predicted an ‘easy knockout’ of Tyson Fury in a potential fourth clash.
Wilder fought Fury to a controversial draw in 2018, before suffering back-to-back TKOs by the Briton in 2020 and 2021. American Wilder retained the WBC title in their first fight but surrendered the belt in their rematch, before Fury retained the gold in their trilogy bout.
Still, Wilder is confident that he would get his revenge if he were to face Fury again.
When asked to predict the outcome of such a fight, Wilder told EsNews on YouTube: “Knockout, easy. Straight on the ground.”
Some fans disagreed, however. Talksport journalist Michael Benson took to Twitter to share Wilder’s interview with EsNews, and one reply read: “Hats off to the continuous delusion of Deontay Wilder. Still rolling out the excuses [until] THIS DAY.”
One user simply wrote, “Delusional,” while another saw the positives in such a mindset, writing: “Wilder’s mental state and confidence [have] to be admired. This guy’s belief in himself is unmatched, AJ [Anthony Joshua] could take a leaf out of his book. It’s almost delusion, perhaps [is], but it’s what is needed to get to the top and even stay there, respect… good luck to him!”
One user wrote, “I love Wilder but he’s not talented enough to beat Fury. That first fight was the closest he’ll ever come. [There are] just some people out there you just can’t beat [...] Wilder gotta accept he can’t beat Fury.” Meanwhile, another wrote: “Wilder give it up bro, the fight would be exactly the same as the ones before, you can’t [out] box Tyson and you can barely land on him, he has shown that he can get up from your shots, he would just put you on the back foot and out box you as you can’t box under pressure.”
Wilder, 37, knocked down Fury, 34, twice in their first fight and twice in their third meeting. The “Bronze Bomber” was unable to secure a win in any of their three bouts, however.
Talks are now under way over a potential heavyweight ‘mega-tournament’ involving Fury and Wilder, a concept that would see the former take on Oleksandr Usyk and the latter paired with Anthony Joshua.
Negotiations over an undisputed-title fight between WBC champion Fury and unified champion Usyk fell through in March, but the prospect of a tournament in Saudi Arabia in December has reignited hopes that the contest could come together. Meanwhile, Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel said this week: “Deontay has wanted to fight Joshua for a long time, and of course he is willing to fight him in Saudi Arabia.”
Wilder last fought in October, stopping Robert Helenius in the first round. Meanwhile, Joshua most recently competed on 1 April, outpointing Jermaine Franklin in London.
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