Deontay Wilder: “I’m Going to Knock Fury Out Like I Did The First Time!”
When WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KO’s) fought Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (31-2, 28 KO’s), many of his die-hard fans didn’t like it. In their first bout in March of 2018, Ortiz came closer than anyone to stopping Wilder in the seventh round. As a result, the rematch was completely voluntary and dripping with danger.
DANGEROUS VOLUNTARY TOUR OF DUTY
Wilder successfully managed to overcome the adversity and knocked out King Kong in the tenth round. Despite winning by clearly and emphatically, Wilder didn’t care for the rocky road that he was forced to traverse during their battle. This is why he chose to rematch the ferociously avoided Cuban southpaw.
Admittedly, the rematch was nowhere near as exciting or dramatic as the first bout. Although, the finale was much more definitive. It was actually a rather dull affair until Wilder landed his cannon ball straight right-hand in the seventh period. The single destructive shot instantly laid Ortiz flat on his back. To his credit, King Kong made it back to his feet but not before referee Kenny Bayless counted him out.
With the victory, Wilder officially placed himself into heavyweight boxing history. He accomplished this by successfully defending his WBC belt for an impressive tenth consecutive time. The feat places him in an extremely small fraternity of heavyweight boxers to do so.
WILDER’S ROUGH INTENTIONS FOR FURY
Another reason the Bronze Bomber’s fans were leery of the prizefight with Ortiz is because they knew a mega-fight with Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (29-0-1, 20 KO’s) loomed in the background. Similar to Ortiz, Wilder also fought the Gypsy King in a December 2018 bout that ended in a controversial draw. In the direct aftermath of their fight, Wilder called for, and was seemingly close to getting, an immediate rematch.
Initially it appeared that Wilder v Fury 2 would have a quick turnaround. That was until Fury linked up with rival outfit Top Rank promotions and forged a television deal with ESPN. The Bronze Bomber is aligned with the PBC and generally fights on SHOWTIME or FOX. As was to be expected, the two camps bad-mouthed one another blaming the opposite side for the botched rematch.
“If they were so sure about certain things and they seen so much he would have took the rematch immediately! I’m not running around here doing a hundred thousand things. I was the one that demanded the rematch as soon as possible, especially when it was a controversial decision.
“I’m the one fighting the top, best-of-the-best in the division. I don’t see no other fighters risking any fights.”
Even with all the public squabbling, a rematch was put together and signed by both pugilists. All that stood in the way of the do-over taking place was Wilder successfully over coming Ortiz for a second time. Now, that that matter has been put to bed, all their time, energy and attention can be put into staging Wilder v Fury 2.
NO MORE TALK
With his attention back on Fury, Wilder has taken little time to let the Gypsy King know that he plans on knocking him out. In fact, the Bomber was dealing out threats to Fury while fielding questions during the post-fight presser for his bout with Ortiz. Not surprisingly, Fury’s trainer, Ben Davison, was in attendance at Wilder v Ortiz 2.
“I hope he took notes and carried them back to his camp because I am going to knock Fury out like I did the first time. Point-blank, period.”
“Last time I checked, Fury only had two big fights on his resume and that’s a win against Klitschko and a knockout against me. And the last two were against up and coming fighters.
“Look at me, I’m putting my title on the line each and every time and I’m only getting better and better with the timing and the setting up these fighters. So, come February I hope they’re ready because I am ready.”
At this point, the boxing populace is just hoping that neither boxer suffers any fight-derailing injury. Provided both men remain healthy and don’t jump ship chasing endeavors outside of boxing, we will have a very meaningful and highly anticipated heavyweight title fight to watch February 22!
3kingsboxing will continue to cover all the latest developments surrounding this on-going grudge match.
By: Bakari Simpson
