WHEN Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder went head-to-head over the course of their increasingly fractious three-city media tour, promoter Frank Warren frequently found himself trying to keep the two irascible heavyweights apart. โNo one else would do it would they? Whereโs the security?โ he said jovially.
He was however concerned that without some intervention it could quickly have got out of hand. โIโm always there because a clash of heads your fightโs off, cut eye, it happens. It happens,โ Warren said.
โPeople think itโs a get up,โ he continued. โThey sat on the same sofa, youโve seen the whole video and itโs not the case. Theyโre in the studio, what are you going to doโฆ Itโs the green room, you all go in there.โ
Warren does believe it has all played into Furyโs hands ahead of his challenge for Wilderโs WBC heavyweight title on December 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. โTysonโs very bright, Tysonโs very clever and I like Deontay, Deontayโs a really nice guy, Iโve got a lot of time for him as well. But Tyson from the press conference, in the mental stakes, he got the edge,โ Warren said.
โHeโs come away with the mental edge. For some fighters thatโs important. Itโs certainly important for Tyson, as he proved against Klitschko.โ
Fury is preparing for the big fight at Big Bear in California. โHeโs happy as anything, heโs prepared. As much as heโs been out of the ring, this is the first time heโs had back to back fights before fighting for a world title. Before one of them heโd had one fight in 12 months,โ Warren noted.
Although he is stepping up to world level early in his comeback, the promoter insists Wilder would be foolish to underestimate this challenger, saying of Fury, โHis confidence has given me the confidence to make the fight.โ