The long-anticipated re-match between the Bronze Bomber, Deontay Wilder, and the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury, will take place on Saturday, 22 February at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. BT Sport BoxOffice is likely to cover the match on a pay-to-view basis in the United Kingdom, but this is not yet confirmed. With the difference in time zones, you will certainly need to be up early to see it – the ring walk is expected at 5am, GMT – but this first major boxing encounter of the new decade promises to be major, and fans can’t wait to see the two fighters battle it out.
31-year-old Fury is narrow favourite to win, with odds of 10/11 from bookmaker Ladbrokes, on the basis of his recent reported training regime and superior technique, but the astonishing ability of Wilder to win by knock-out cannot be discounted. After all, the 34-year-old American has won 42 of his 43 professional matches (with one draw, against Fury), with 41 of these being by knock-out. What a track record! So the odds for Wilder to win are in fact not significantly different, with Skybet offering best odds of 6/5.
The two heavyweights last met in December 2018 when Tyson was fighting in only his third match after a three-year layoff which saw him ballooning to over 400lbs and battling mental health and substance abuse issues. The 12-round LA fight resulted in a controversial split decision draw and Fury, who is the unbeaten Lineal champion and who out-classed Wilder for much of the match, is out for revenge, seeking to strip Wilder of his WBC title. If he does achieve this, there is likely to be a third and deciding bout between the pair, with the winner then squaring off against Londoner Anthony Joshua, who currently holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO belts.
The Wilder v Fury re-match promises to be a must-see event for boxing fans. A draw is of course always considered by boxing pundits to be most unlikely (bookie BetVictor offers odds of 25/1 for the draw) and fans will be keen to see the contest won in a definitive manner, in contrast to the previous encounter of the two heavyweights. Anthony Joshua will be waiting to see who he will be up against as a result of the Tyson-Wilder matches, but an encounter with Tyson Fury would undoubtedly attract enormous attention in the United Kingdom.
