Deontay Wilder took appreciation from his old opponent, Tyson Fury, but it didn’t come without a side dish of sarcasm for the ex-heavyweight champion.
Fury changed his mind about Wilder for the umpteenth time by showing “The Bronze Bomber” some love.
Previously, “The Gypsy King” had fluctuated between stating he’d never give Wilder the time of day again to showing respect.
Most of the conflict comes from sharing the ring three times with Wilder – but he also has the sour taste of accusation from his adversary.
Deontay Wilder accusations
Wilder accused Fury of glove tampering in their rematch after being stopped in seven rounds. He also [sort of] blamed a heavy suit for making him weak. However, he denied this in the aftermath.
Nonetheless, despite the storm after their February 2020 meeting and Fury stating he’d never fight Wilder again due to ongoing arbitration, the pair enjoyed a trilogy for the ages.
The third meeting was voted 2021 Fight of the Year after both men hit the canvas on more than one occasion.
Now, fast forward many months, and the fact the two kings of the ring have been out of each other space for some time, Fury’s had a change of heart.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Fury gave Wilder his props. That praise came with a slanted reference to his complaints, though.
“Fair play to Deontay. He has got the heart of a lion,” Fury told TNT. “No matter what he says about me, you must admire someone you fought three times.
“Whether I had horseshoes in my gloves or he had a suit too heavy, I respect that fact that we’ve had the trilogy. We knocked lumps out of each other.”
Fury vs Wilder trilogy
Fury is right about that. They smashed each other to pieces, so much so that Fury has been tentatively treading around his WBC title defenses ever since.
A mandated fight with Dillian Whyte proved easy work the following April. Fury then decided to rematch Derek Chisora for a second time for no good reason whatsoever.
Fury stayed out of the ring for eight months to exacerbate his detractors. He then dumbfoundingly announced his intention to fight the ex-UFC champion.
Francis Ngannou steps into the breach where a WBC title defense should have been. The MMA star has no boxing experience and is no match for Fury, judging by recent videos.
Fighting Wilder for a fourth time has been spoken about previously. However, it would probably go down as well as the Chisora effort despite entertaining the masses last time out.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
