Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury exchange words. Photo / AP
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury exchange words. Photo / AP
The Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury heavyweight fight erupted dramatically at the final news conference as tensions boiled over and the two unbeaten heavyweights clashed as they went face to face.
The mood changed. It was dramatic, but harmless. Fury began to goad Wilder and clearly succeeded in getting under the champion's skin.
Fury revealed on Wednesday to The Daily Telegraph that he had been consuming The Art of War, the famous book on military strategy by Sun Tzu, the Chinese general of ancient times, ahead of challenging for Wilder's World Boxing Council heavyweight title.
Wednesday's antics on stage were certainly straight out of the book. The wagging finger of Wilder went into Fury's eye and the two camps indulged in a melee with pushing and shoving, Fury ripped his shirt off, but no punches were thrown.
"Mark my words, I will knock him out," said Fury, the former world heavyweight No 1. "He's not a bad man, he's a pretender. This is the biggest fight of my career so far. Everything has gone fantastic. The training, the preparation, injury-free, we've got a great game plan and we're going to execute it on the night."
He disclosed that he had been reading Sun Tzu's 2,500-year-old tome. "I heard a lot of people talk about this book and I didn't really know what it was about. I heard a lot of the methods being talked about, so I had to have a read for myself. A very interesting book. A lot of the strategies have been used throughout the years in many battles. I suppose everybody could take some of these and use them.
"A lot of it is common sense," Fury added, musing that the fight with Wilder could indeed involve art of war tactics.
"Winning battles is more than just having brawn and numbers and having all the momentum. You need more than that. There have been many small armies that have defeated massive legions because they've had brains."
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury are separated by their respective team members. Photo / AP
On Saturday's clash, Fury said: "It won't be straightforward. Wilder has all the momentum. He's coming off seven fights since 2015 when I stopped. I've only had two, so he's match fit. It will be a hell of a competition of who has the best plans, who does what first. I'm very confident I'm going to lead him into a lot of traps."
Wilder, meanwhile, told The Telegraph that he had "visualised knocking out Fury 75 ways".
What did Fury see? "I don't visualise it, and that's being honest. Envisioning yourself doing something and then forcing yourself to do it, like gravity, I'm not a believer in that at all. Deontay Wilder says he sees himself knocking me out in 75 different occasions. But whatever he's seeing isn't Tyson Fury.
"Until he's in with me, he'll not know the menace he is facing. Until then, shadows don't hit back and dreams are one-sided, especially when you're dreaming them."
The referee and judges have been confirmed. The experienced American, Jack Reiss, is the third man in the ring, with judges Phil Edwards, of England, Alejandro Rochin (United States) and Robert Tapper (Canada).
"Fairness is all I ask. I don't ask for any upper hand, any advantages or a certain glove," said Fury. "All I ask is for the officials to be fair and square and that we have a fair crack of the whip, that's it. I wanted experienced judges and we have an experienced referee."
Ben Davison, Fury's trainer, who celebrates his 26th birthday today, told The Telegraph that Fury has "a dream corner team". Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach joins as cuts man, with former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton, now a trainer himself, as second. "They're both great guys and great at what they do," Davison said. "It's a fantastic team."
Davison also revealed that he had initially told his fighter not to take the offer to face Wilder as he felt it was too soon. "In an ideal world, it was to be four fights and then fight for a world title. But I've seen Tyson needed this for his own happiness. He's had a different vibe about him in this camp. I'm a firm believer a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter."
