NO stranger to dramatic heavyweight fights in Las Vegas, Frank Bruno believes Tyson Fury will succeed in outboxing Deontay Wilder when the pair meet for the WBC heavyweight title this Saturday (February 22) in Sin City.
Bruno, himself a former WBC heavyweight champion, famously lost his crown against Mike Tyson at the MGM Grand back in 1996, and seven years prior to that succumbed to Tyson at the Hilton.
Still, despite knowing what it’s like to feel the wrath of a fearsome puncher, Bruno maintains the belief that a good boxer can get the better of a good puncher and is backing Fury, his fellow Englishman, to get the job done against Wilder this weekend.
“I’m favouring Tyson Fury to win because he has the boxing skill,” he told talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast show.
“When Tyson Fury fought him last time, he had been out of the ring for three years and went on the fast lane. He has come back in the slow lane, has got the rust out of his body.
“He has put on more weight because the heavier he is, the better he is. He has been doing some strength training and his body looks very, very good, his mind looks good.
“If you look at Wilder’s last fight against Luis Ortiz, it took him seven rounds before Wilder caught him with a right hand.
“Tyson Fury is much fresher, much more skilful, much younger and a better boxer. All he’s got to do is not got hit.
“He has the bulk and weight behind him. He is about two, three stone heavier than Wilder. He will bully him and is a better boxer than Ortiz. If you watch him, he is borderline 40 and was boxing Wilder’s ears off before he got caught.
“Fury, when he fought Wilder, wasn’t fazed for the 12 rounds. And don’t forget he lost ten stone.
“He is very tricky. You never know what he is going to do. He can turn southpaw, orthodox and he can box and frustrate you.
“As long as he doesn’t get stupid and too brave because Wilder has dynamite in both his hands. But that is all he has got.
“In the last fight, Wilder got him late, but Tyson got too complacent and became a showman. He has to stay focused, watch him at all times, use his skill.
“If he boxes sensibly, boxes smart, he has got the height, the reach, the weight, the experience behind him to box his ears off all night.
“If he starts showboating, he could get caught. The aim of the game for this one is to mess him around, break up his rhythm, keep him on the back foot, jab him, move and keep him off balance.
“People underestimate Tyson Fury. He is a big lump but how many boxers can turn from orthodox to southpaw? And he has so much skill and is very, very confident.”
Few fighters have ever been as popular and beloved in Great Britain as Frank Bruno. However, should Tyson Fury do what Bruno believes he will do on Saturday night, the ‘Gypsy King’ could start pushing him close.
Floyd Mayweather will continue to tease the possibility of a return to the ring because he needs the money a comeback fight – the latest of many – can promise him.
That’s the view of Mayweather’s old friend 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, who believes Mayweather’s lavish lifestyle has left him unable to fully walk away from boxing.
“I think he got to right now because the money’s gone,” Jackson said on Hot 97, as reported by World Boxing News. “It’s fight, get the money, spend the money, fight.
“With the lifestyle that money’s gone. Trust me. Now it’s like if you call him he’ll be at your local nightclub because he needs that action right now.”
Mayweather, never one to take criticism lying down, has hit back at 50 Cent’s claim and says his former friend has not only taken him by surprise with his comments but disappointed him.
“If this man (50 Cent) comes over to my house, my chef cook big meals for us, we sit back, we kick it. We travelled on the jet together,” Mayweather told Drink Champs. “This is coming out of the blue. It’s like me and you just kicking it, I’m right here talking with y’all, I come and do the show with you every day, and then one day you just go out of the blue. “I’m like damn, ‘Where is this coming from?’”
Of all the things to care about in boxing, and indeed the world, the financial woes of Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather should rank extremely close to the bottom of any hypothetical list. It should, in fact, be two places above reports of any beef between Mayweather and 50 Cent and just one place above news of Mayweather boxing yet another a mixed martial artist in 2020.