Most experts, pundits, and armchair fanatics believe that Tyson Fury did enough to win his WBC title fight with Deontay Wilder back in December 2018.
For context, the Bronze Bomber twice scored heavy knockdowns of Fury but, after dusting himself down, the Gypsy King went back to controlling the fight from the center of the ring.
The split decision that followed from the judges was met with dismay by some, and to this day the British fighter is adamant that he did enough to rip the strap from the waist of the champion.
He will get a chance for some heavy-handed revenge on February 22 when the pair meet in a rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and Fury has vowed to remove the possibility of the judges getting involved once more, by taking care of business inside of the allotted 12 rounds.
The 31-year-old has claimed that he was ârobbedâ in the original encounter, and has taken on extreme and unusual matters to ensure he is punching as hard as possible in the return encounter.
Those include eating six meals per day and dipping his hands in gasoline, which famous Irish bare-knuckle boxing champion Joe Joyce told Fury helped to toughen them up.
Whether the eyebrow-raising tactic has the desired effect we shall have to wait and see, but if you like the challengerâs fighting talk, then you might be persuaded that the 5/1 price available in the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder odds for him to win by KO or TKO is sound value indeed.
Fury Sweet on SugarHill
Another change that Fury has made in his quest for a knockout win is to dispense with the services of former trainer Ben Davidson, and replace him with Javan âSugarHillâ Steward â nephew of legendary Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitchsko cornerman, Emanuel Steward.
The idea behind the move was simple: the Gypsy King wanted a shift away from Davidsonâs technical, defence-orientated style to the straightforward knockout merchantâs tactics deployed in the famous Kronk gym, out of which the Stewards operate.
Itâs a risky strategy, to some extent, given that Wilder is an explosive puncher in his own right. If Fury gives him an inch, the champion will take a mile.
The tactic is made all the more dangerous by the cut Fury suffered in his win over Otto Wallin last time out. That needed 47 stitches to close, and a hefty haymaker from Wilder could leave the Gypsy King soaked in blood once more.
The champion, in typically outspoken style, confirmed his radar would be locked on to that potential weakness. âI will absolutely be using that cut as a target, and I am definitely going to open it up again,â he said.
However, the Fury camp are remaining bullish, with SugarHill even claiming that he doesnât want his man to win on points simply because it isnât in his fighting DNA.
He accused his new client of ânot stepping on the gasâ in the first fight, and has suggested that Fury will not be making the same mistake twice.
SugarHillâs message is simple: âget the knockoutâ. âThatâs the only 100 percent way you know you won the fight by taking it out of the hands of the judges.â
Wilder has won 41 of his 43 professional fights by way of knockout, and by the sounds of it, Fury will be looking to land a big blow that ends this contest prematurely. Whichever way you look at it, those in attendance and the millions watching on from home are in for a treat!