The shockwaves from Deontay Wilder’s one-sided loss to Joseph Parker last month continue to reverberate through the world of heavyweight boxing.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ (now 43-3-1) was completely befuddled and becalmed by Parker on that massive ‘Day of Reckoning’ card, hardly landing a meaningful punch as his plans for a March superfight vs Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia were destroyed.
Now Joshua heads in a different direction to meet Francis Ngannou on March 8, while Wilder and his team continue to pick up the pieces. The analysis on that loss continues from the wider boxing world, with experts weighing in on what went wrong.
Peter Fury on Wilder vs Parker
The latest man to provide a take is highly-respected trainer Peter Fury, who spoke to IFL TV (watch the full interview at the bottom of this page) about a number of topics – including Wilder vs Parker.
Fury was at pains to stress his views are not personal – he spoke of Wilder as a gentlemen outside the ring – and says only Deontay’s team have the real answers. But he did give a fascinating take on what he observed as he watched on TV.
He told Kugan Cassius: “Wilder seems to be absolutely dismantled when he’s put on the back foot. Seems basically, what it looks like, he’s only ever good when he’s coming forward and hunting down the opponent.
“Everybody’s got an Achilles Heel haven’t they, and can Wilder come back? Yes he can. But the fight I saw, running round the outside of the ring, not wanting to engage, he didn’t do anything at all, what WIlder was that? Whatever happened there? He looked like a skeleton of himself, so they’ve got the answers.
“Not taking anything away from Parker, he got the job done. He had the right tactics from the centre of the ring, and he steadily forced the control back. So maybe Wilder couldn’t exchange because he felt like he had to get on the back foot. But to go round and round and round and round and round in circles, touching the ropes every time he’s going, what sort of fight was that? Didn’t want to engage at all.
“But look, they know the answers to it, I don’t. But looking at it, what kind of tactics, what kind of fight was that?”
Fury also questioned why Wilder didn’t apparently raise his game late in the fight, when it appeared clear he was losing round after round on the scorecards.
“You’re in 5,6,7,8 – you’re in the same s*** every round. Do you not realise you’ve lost 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 – what the f*** is going on there. If you was in the corner, you’d say ‘what the f*** are doing’, wouldn’t you. You’re losing every round in sight and you’re not even putting a fight up. So what on earth are they doing there?
“For me, looking at it, he didn’t do anything, did he?”
Fury also spoke about Wilder’s reputation in comparison to his resume, asking the question: “Are fighters really as good as what people make out they are? I think Wilder had 30-something fights of people in the pub.
“He only having decent fights when he got past 30-something and 0. Styles make fights – he’s beat some good opponents as well, Wilder has. It comes back to what I’m saying, everybody should fight each other, let’s see, because everybody’s got weaknesses haven’t they?”
