By Charles Brun: Heavyweight great Gerry Cooney wants Deontay Wilder to go after the soft belly of Tyson Fury in their rematch, and NOT give up real estate like he did last February in the second fight between them.
Cooney says former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) made a mistake in backing up against Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) because that allowed him to control the fight.
Can Wilder become a body puncher at his age?
In the upcoming Fury-Wilder trilogy contest, Cooney states that Wilder needs to go downstairs and attack Fury’s soft midsection with his punches. He’s got to get inside on Fury and nail him with shots to his weak body before he grabs and holds like he frequently did in their first two fights.
Cooney says that if it had been him fighting Fury, he would have been “breaking ribs” with his body attack. He wouldn’t be head-hunting with right hands the way that Wilder did in his first two fights with Fury.
The 6’6″ Cooney had excellent fighting skills from day one as a professional, and he was a devastating body puncher. His inside game was strength. But in the case of the 34-year-old Wilder, he’s never learned to fight inside, and he’s a bit long in the tooth to try and develop an inside game at the stage in his career.
Wilder with more time to prepare for Fury
“Fury is a good fighter, he’s a good tactician, and he feints all night long and keeps you off balance,” said Gerry Cooney to IFL TV. “In my day, it wasn’t ‘maybe I’m going to get to his body.
“I’m going to get to his body. I’ve got to work those ribs. When I work those ribs, those hands are coming down, and when they do, I’m going to hit him on the chin.’
“I thought he [Fury] beat Wilder the first time. In the first fight, he got dropped in the 12th round. He was sleeping. And he got up off the ground and chased Wilder. He took that into the last fight and walked Wilder down. Wilder was lost. He couldn’t fight backing up.
“That was the same as Kenny Norton. He was a great fighter coming forward, but if you backed him up, he couldn’t fight. That’s what Fury did to him [Wilder]. You have to take your hat off to that man because you had to figure at some time in the fight that Wilder was going to get to him with something. Fury took him to school.
“With the rematch coming up [between Wilder and Fury], maybe it’s good because of this virus, Wider is going to get a lot of extra time in the gym practicing to get extra tools in the toolbox to use against a guy like Fury. When this fight took place when it was supposed to, you have to favor Fury,” said Clooney.
With the global pandemic, Wilder, 6’7″, has more time to prepare for the third fight with Fury. They were supposed to fight in July, but that’s now changed. Now they’re supposed to fight in October.
Deontay MUST work Fury’s soft midsection
“Wilder can hit with that right hand, and at any time, you can go out, but basically, Tyson Fury has his number,” said Clooney. This time that they’re going to have out is going to benefit Deontay Wilder because he’s going to have more time in the gym to figure out the mistakes.
“Listen, he has to get that ground back,” said Cooney about Wilder needing to not back up against Fury. “He gave up all that ground in the ring. You’ve got to take that real estate back. You’ve got to step to the side.
“You can’t fight right in front of him [Fury]. You’ve got to get to the side and come inside and work his body. You got to bang his body BEFORE he holds onto you,” said Cooney about Wilder needing to work Fury’s midsection.
“The referee isn’t going to let him [Fury] hold on that much, and then you start landing upstairs. Listen, there’s a lot of things for him [Wilder]. He was a rookie that night. All he was looking for was that right hand all night long, and Fury knew it.
“At the A-level, you’ve got to have more tools than that. You can’t be depending on that big right hand because it doesn’t work, as we found out on that night for him.
“He’s trying to build his confidence up,” said Cooney in reacting to Wilder’s comments about Fury not being a “real champion.” “When you sign for a fight with somebody, it’s a chess match going on,” said Cooney.
If Wilder had someone like Cooney to work with him for a few weeks, he could improve his game enough to give Fury headaches inside. Cooney isn’t a trainer, though, but he would be someone that Wilder SHOULD talk to at least.
Deontay needs more offensive tools
“You say this, and he says that. Obviously, he’s [Wilder] trying to build himself back up again because he was [dominated],” said Cooney. “He has the tools to do it, but he has to get somebody in his camp that teaches him how to do those other special things that can teach him…In boxing, a watered-down version of boxing came in, and that’s what’s teaching him,” said Coony in criticizing the trainers that are now in the game teaching fighters.
“At this level, you’ve got to have other tools in the bag. You’ve got to step to the left, come underneath and get inside. Fury is soft in the middle. I’d be on that belly all day long. I’d be banging that belly, and I’d be breaking those ribs.
“I think it’s a great fight for boxing,” said Clooney on a fight between Fury and Joshua. “It’s about how well did Joshua get his confidence back. The last time, he ran scared in his rematch with Ruiz.
“Let me tell you something. Tyson Fury, that fake he does, it keeps you off balance. You don’t know if you’re coming or going. The confidence he’s built up from his last victories, from the wins he’s had, he’s taking that into the ring with him,” said Cooney.
If Wilder starts training now, he could, in theory, improve his game enough to beat Fury. The last news from Wilder is he’s had bicep surgery, and he’s not expected to start training until May.
It’s going to be hard for Wilder to improve enough in five months for him to beat Fury. If Wilder doesn’t change his game, Fury will mug him on the inside like he did last time they fought.
Wilder needs to come forward against Fury
“Tyson Fury is half crazy, but you love the guy,” said Cooney. “He fights, and he tells you what’s going to happen, and he does it. You don’t believe him half the time. I figured in the second fight that Wilder was going to get to him [Fury] at some time.
“Fury took it away from him. Amazing. Let’s see what Wilder is going to do in the third fight. From what I understand, he brought two new guys into camp. What are you going to teach him? I know what I would teach him how to fight. You’ve got to take that ground, and you’ve got to cut that ring off.
“You got to get inside, and you’ve got to work hard. And you’ve got to fight, and fight hard and win that championship back. I’m hoping we see a great fight with those two guys because boxing needs it,” said Clooney.
It was surprising that Wilder backed up against Fury the entire fight last time they fought. Wilder says he was injured, but he was backing up the whole match. Unless the injury occurred before the battle, Wilder’s excuse is a poor one.
Can Wilder come forward the entire fight to pressure Fury? He showed that he could in the first fight, but that was against a defensive-minded Fury. Now that Fury has tasted success against Wilder, he’s going to be the one that’s taking the fight to him the entire contest.
Wilder has two additional new trainers that he’s added to his team, but it’s unclear whether they’re going to teach him to fight on the inside.
Anthony Joshua must rough up Fury in close
“Joshua is going to have to get on him, and Fury also has a lot of confidence in that right hand. He hurt Wilder a lot with his right hand in the first fight and in the second fight. I really love Joshua, but I don’t think he takes it too well on the button. I think that’s a flaw that he has.
“He has to learn to keep his hands up, don’t stand up so straight. Be out of the picture, not in the picture, and fight. He’s going to have to fight his a** off. He can’t run with Fury because Fury has got that seven-foot arm. He’s got to get inside and rough up Fury and land some shots on him.
“Fury needs a challenge, and this is a big challenge for him. He’s been wanting this fight for a long time. It depends on who shows up with Joshua, and who shows up with Fury,” said Clooney when asked who wins the fight.
“Fury fights with the style that they [his opponents] don’t throw a lot of punches. For guys that throw 1000 punches, they don’t do that against him because he keeps you not sure. You’re off balance all the time. Who’s in Joshua’s corner and who’s in Fury’s corner,” said Cooney.
The difference between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder is the inside fighting ability of AJ. He knows how to fight on the inside, and he’s got an excellent uppercut. So if Fury tries to mug Joshua as he did against Wilder, he could be in for a long night.