Boxing-Wilder and Fury trade barbs ahead of trilogy fight
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[June 16, 2021]
By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - WBC heavyweight
champion Tyson Fury vowed to run Deontay Wilder down while the
challenger said blood will be shed as the fighters came face-to-face
in an odd press conference ahead of their July 24 trilogy fight in
Las Vegas.
Fury (30-0-1) first fought former long-time heavyweight champion
Wilder (42-1-1) to a draw in 2018 and took the WBC title from him in
a rematch in February 2020 with a seventh-round stoppage.
A shirtless and upbeat Fury said that he has added one-punch
knockout power to his arsenal and would flatten the American when
the bell rings at T-Mobile Arena.
"What I'm going to do to Deontay Wilder this time is I'm going to
run him over as if I'm an 18-wheeler and he's a human being," said
the Briton, who predicted that he would knock Wilder out in fewer
than seven rounds.
"I'm building my weight up, I'm trying to get up to 300 pounds for
this fight because I'm looking for a big knockout straight away," he
said.
"I don't think he's mentally, physically or emotionally involved in
this fight. I think he's doing it for the wrong reasons and when
people do things for the wrong reasons, they always wind up getting
hurt."
Wilder kept his headphones on and his mouth shut for
the majority of Tuesday's press conference but spoke briefly to thank
his team, which includes new trainer and former professional boxer Malik
Scott, and take a shot at Fury.
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Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Deontay Wilder
and Tyson Fury box during their WBC heavyweight title bout at MGM
Grand Garden Arena. Fury won via seventh round TKO. Mandatory
Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
"Enough said... because come July 24,
there will be blood shed," Wilder said in his smooth, singsong
baritone.
The press conference in Los Angeles ended with a more than
five-minute long face-off where neither fighter spoke to the other,
although members of their camps exchanged words.
"Thank you everybody for turning out for this one-sided press
conference," Fury concluded.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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