Retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather says that he can help correct the errors which caused Deontay Wilder to lose his WBC world title to Tyson Fury earlier this year ahead of the mooted trilogy bout between the two superstars.
Wilder was defeated by seventh-round TKO by ‘The Gypsy King’ in the battle of the two previously-undefeated heavyweights, with Fury adding the WBC crown to the several other recognized world heavyweight titles he won before vacating them soon after his surprise win against Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury dominated the fight from bell to bell, employing a more aggressive strategy honed at the world-famous Kronk Gym in Detroit and tailored by Ireland’s former world middleweight champion, Andy Lee. The result was an impeccable performance from Fury which clearly demonstrated that, on that night at least, he was the far superior heavyweight pugilist.
It was marked improvement from Fury compared to his first meeting with Wilder, which ended in a draw after Fury’s Lazarus-like recovery in the final round after absorbing one of Wilder’s trademark thunderbolts.
And now after two fights with Fury, neither of which he had his hand raised after, it seems that Wilder is keen to develop his own game much like Fury did ahead of their second fight earlier this year – and Floyd Mayweather says that he is the man to engineer it.
Mayweather iterated in August that he would like to teach Wilder ‘how to win again’ and has recently doubled down on that sentiment in speaking the ‘ClubShayShay’ podcast.
“Tyson Fury’s solid, he’s got skills,” Mayweather said. “Deontay Wilder’s got bombs, but we can make his skills a lot better.
“I’m here to help fighters, even Wilder. I’m here, all he’s got to do is let me know what he wants to do and we can make it happen.”
As of right now, it is uncertain as to when Fury and Wilder will meet for their contractually guaranteed third fight. Initial plans had been laid out to hold the fight inside the $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) Las Vegas Raiders stadium in December but Fury’s UK-based co-promoter, Frank Warren, says that they must stage the fight only when fans are permitted to attend.
“Not a fight of that magnitude,” Warren told UK TV. “Wilder and Fury was the highest grossing fight to ever take place in Vegas. We just can’t lose that gate. It’s a huge amount of money. We need the gate.”
Fury is expected to fight the other world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, in the most anticipated fight in British boxing history next year if he is successful against Wilder and if Joshua comes through his mandatory title defence against Kubrat Pulev.
