By Norm Frauenheim-
LAS VEGAS – Deontay Wilder, a man with many more personalities than punches, once talked about legal homicide. Now, he’s talking about love.
He’s changed all right, which is exactly what he promised to do after Tyson Fury fractured his identity in a one-sided stoppage more than a year-and-a-half ago
But it’s hard to know if the changes are real or rhetoric. Has he evolved? Repaired his sense of self after Fury stripped him of his defining power? Or is he role playing? It’s impossible to know. At least, it is until his heavyweight trilogy with Fury unfolds Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Call Wilder the biggest wild card in a bout hard to pick because of the 19 months that have come and gone since either fighter has answered an opening bell. There are questions after the long stretch of idle time amid a Pandemic and postponements brought on by legal issues and Fury’s positive tests for COVID.
A lot has led up to the third fight. The first two fights left plenty of clues about what to expect Saturday night. Yet, the third bout is wrapped in mystery. It’s almost as if they are starting over. At least, Wilder hopes so.
He has Malik Scott in his corner instead of Mark Breland, who threw in the towel midway through the seventh round, halting an embarrassing beatdown from Fury in the rematch. He still calls Breland disloyal, a word he used again Wednesday during an exchange with Fury during a heated news conference.
“Mark Breland, he saved your life that night,’’ Fury said. “You ought to have given him a pay raise.’’
What was striking about Fury’s edgy rip – one of many, however, was in Wilder’s reaction. He hasn’t changed his mind about Breland, who ranks among one of the good guys in a business without enough of them.
Wilder didn’t apologize, not for Breland or allegations that Fury cheated. But he didn’t go on a rant, either.
Throughout the newser, Wilder remained seated while Fury paced.
“I detect some nervous energy,’’ Wilder told him, sounding a little bit like a dispassionate psychiatrist analyzing an anxious patient.
“Insecure piece of shit,’’ Fury fired back.
It was at that point that the Wilder from six months might have jumped up and gone Mike Tyson on Fury. Didn’t happen. This time, there was no talk of body bags. The crazy Wilder of June was gone. This was the composed Wilder. He was happy and calm just a couple of days before a chance to wreak havoc against a bitter rival.
“With me and my team aboard, we all understand everything that has happened,’’ Wilder said during a Zoom call a couple of weeks before the news conference. “We’re just looking forward to it. We all smile. You know, we all laugh.
“You know, I always talk about the love I have in my camp. And it is so real. You know, I love to display it. I love to talk about it because, you know, so many people look for this type of love, because there’s so many fake people out there that show fake love.
“And I know for sure if I see love, it’s between the family that I have within my team and my brotherhood that I have with all my guys. You know, and that means a lot to me.”
The imminent Fox/ESPN pay-per-view date won’t exactly be a lovefest. But peace and harmony in Wilder’s corner might be a sign that he and Scott are communicating.
There’s an old theory that experienced fighters don’t change, at least not much. Wilder is 35. He’s fought 44 times (42-1-1, 41 KOs). He successfully defended the World Boxing Council’s version of the heavyweight title 10 times. It’s a comprehensive resume, one which says that new tricks in this old warhorse are unlikely.
Fury, who survived Wilder’s deadly right hand in the first fight and nullified it in the second, is confident he has seen every Wilder dimension. There’s been only one: That right.
Wilder promises more, saying Scott has found heretofore dormant weapons in a skillset that had started and ended with the right. There’s a guessing game that Wilder will enter the ring, planning a small adjustment that will allow him to create the space he needs for the leverage to throw – and land — the right.
In the rematch, Fury suffocated him, leaving him no space. No leverage. In the end, Wilder was left with only an identity crisis.
Maybe, he has conquered it. If he has, he has a chance.Attachments area
