Eddie Hearn gives Deonty Wilder only a lucky puncher’s chance in his third fight with Tyson Fury next month on July 24th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There’s a bit of unhappiness on Hearn’s part that Wilder is getting the fight he wanted for his fighter Anthony Joshua.
Fury was supposed to fight Joshua on August 14th, but he lost the arbitration case to Wilder after attempting to walk away from his contractual rematch.
Hearn should be angry at himself for making the crazy mistake of negotiating the Joshua-Fury fight while Fury was still involved in the arbitration. There are no words to describe how zany that was. Hearn should have waited until the case was over before looking to make his move.
Hearn says Wilder isn’t a world-class heavyweight technically, although he does have elite-level power and speed that Fury is missing.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn feels that Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) will easily beat Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) if he’s dialed in next month and fully motivated for their main event fight.
Wilder already showed that he could destroy Fury when he knocked him cold in their first fight in 2018. The fight wasn’t stopped by the referee, but it should have been.
When you’re knocked cold, the way Fury was, the referees typically stop the fight, but it was strange that wasn’t stopped in this case. Wilder proved that his power was more than enough to overcome Fury’s technical skills advantage.
Hearn: Fury beats Wilder if he’s on point
“I think the Wilder fight is dangerous always because of his power,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Fury’s July 24th fight against Wilder.
“I just don’t think he’s very good. So if Fury is switched on, he’ll beat him easy. But I saw yesterday Fury said he’s going offline, focusing now on his full camp like he needs to.
“But if he’s on point, I don’t see outside of Wilder getting lucky. I think lucky might be the right word, landing a shot from the Gods. I don’t see the result being any different,” Hearn said.
If Wilder was injured like he was last time, and if Fury gets away with hitting Wilder behind the head repeatedly like last time, he’s got a good chance of winning.
Fury might be too impatient, wanting to get Wilder out of the way after losing $60 million with his fight with Joshua falling through.
If Fury shows no respect for Wilder, thinking he can bum rush him again and club him in the back of his head, he might get knocked out. Wilder will be ready for Fury next month, so he won’t be able to use the same game plan without getting caught.
Wilder isn’t world-class – says Hearn
“I don’t think Wilder is technically a world-class fighter,” Hearn continued. “I think he has unbelievable power, and he’s extremely dangerous.
“But I just feel that technically, his feet, everything, I don’t see him as a world-class elite heavyweight. But it’s his power and his speed that makes him an elite heavyweight because he’s dangerous.
“So if you’re technically not at the races against Tyson Fury, it’s very difficult to win that fight.
“So unless Fury is demotivated, switched off, which can happen because he’s just lost $60 million and he’s probably not very happy, we guess, he can get beat in that fight,” said Hearn about Fury’s next fight against Deontay.
“All these fights are dangerous. [Oleksandr] Usyk is an extremely dangerous fight for AJ. They’re all dangerous fights, so he’s got to be on point.
“Malik Scott is a great talker. If you listen to him in the press conferences before his own fights, you’d think he’s come out for war every time,” said Hearn about wilder’s new coach Malik Scott.
“But he’s a character, he’s very knowledgable, and I think he’d make a good trainer. They seem to be working well, and I wish them all the best.
“It’s great to see Wilder back, just unfortunately not in this fight. It’s good to see him back because he’s extremely exciting, and he’s a great addition to the division,” said Hearn.
It sounds silly for Hearn to be saying that Wilder isn’t world-class. Wilder already proved that he’s world-class by beating Luis Ortiz and holding down the WBC title for five years.
