Britain’s Tyson Fury says he will never get a judges’ decision in his rematch with Deontay Wilder and his desire to knock the American out was one of the reasons he dropped trainer Ben Davison.
Fury, 31, will fight WBC heavyweight titleholder Wilder on February 22 in Las Vegas after their 2018 bout in Los Angeles ended in a controversial draw. Last month, Fury moved from Davison to team up with Javan ‘Sugar’ Hill.
“I know I will not get a decision in the US,” said Fury on Monday.
In a news conference held in Los Angeles to promote the fight, Fury added: “They had to rob a man who had been out of the ring for three years and they still couldn’t beat him.
“I’m not coming here for a points decision, I’ve had too many of them - nine of them - I’m coming here for a knockout, I’ve had 21 of them and from the heart that’s what I’m looking to do. This is why I employed Sugar Hill. If I didn’t want a knockout, I wouldn’t have hired a Kronk [the famous Detroit gym] trainer. If I didn’t want a knockout, I’d have kept Ben Davison and working on that herky-jerky style.”
Davison had worked with Fury for two years and oversaw the fighter’s 10-stone weight loss and five fights, including the draw with Wilder in December 2018.
However, after a points win over Sweden’s Otto Wallin in September, Fury’s father John was critical of Davison, saying his son looked ‘weak as a kitten’ and the display was ‘the worst I have seen from Tyson’.
Three months later, it was announced Fury had chosen Hill, the nephew of the late Emmanuel Steward, as his new trainer. Steward, who died in 2012, trained Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko, while Fury worked out in Steward’s Kronk Gym back in 2010.
“You’re going to sleep in two rounds,” Fury told Wilder. “I keep having the same dream and when I’m playing poker I keep getting dealt two. It’s definitely a thing. He is getting knocked out in two. I want him to meet me in the middle of the ring and the best man wins. I’m going to give him a boxing lesson.”
Despite knocking Fury down twice in their original meeting, many pundits thought Wilder deserved to lose on points. This time, the American, unbeaten in 43 fights, said: “It’s called unfinished business and he won’t be able to get back up. I’m going to knock him out. I’m the Lion, the king of the jungle and come 22 February I’m going to rip his head off his body. I’m going to knock him out of those ropes.”
