Tyson Fury doesn't believe America's big-punching heavyweight Deontay Wilder is anything special.
Fury challenges for Wilder's WBC championship title in a Los Angeles show on December 1. The fight pits the evasive Fury against the bomb-throwing Wilder, who has 40 wins from 40 professional fights with 39 of those wins coming by way of knockout.
Wilder has flattened many a fighter and has only once been taken the 12-round distance when he fought Bermane Stiverne in 2015
But Fury is unfazed by Wilder's record and believes he fights off-balance because he always "tries to land that big punch." He also said Wilder is a "one-trick pony" and does not expect to get hit hard because he will be able to anticipate Wilder's shots — and either block them, duck under them, or slip them.
"He reminds me of Bambi on ice," Fury told Joe Rogan on the popular MMA Show podcast on Friday. "I've seen him fall over a few times as well. The guy tries to land that big punch, but when you're trying to knock people out with every single punch, then if you miss it becomes a problem and you lose your balance and fall over."
Fury said he told Wilder the same thing he told his former opponent Wladimir Klitschko, the long-reigning heavyweight champion he defeated with ease in 2015. "You fought the Americans, you fought the Mexicans, you fought the Europeans but you never fought the Gypsy King. Have you ever fought a King before? Well, you're fighting one now."
He then said: "Deontay Wilder is a one-trick pony. I don't need to do anything special to beat him, I just need to be myself. Deontay Wilder is looking for one right hand all night. It's a good trick but we all know what happens when that one trick don't land, you've lost."
Fury then likened his style to Muhammad Ali. He hinted that he does not need to fear Wilder's knockout streak, because punchers can be beaten by boxers — similar to how the hard-punching heavyweight George Foreman was outwitted and outboxed by Ali at the "Rumble in the Jungle" event in Zaire, 1974.
Fury may not necessarily "rope-a-dope" Wilder, but he fully expects to confound his powerful opponent with his own cunning — and that will likely come in the way of boxing technique, to hit and not get hit, and by landing his own shots from awkward and unconventional angles.
"Years ago, before 2013, I used to take everything bang in the face and use heart and determination to get through everything. When I stepped up in levels I changed my style to boxing and moving. A bit like Muhammad Ali used to do."
Fury said Wilder is "looking for one punch," before adding: "I'm not."
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