"That was really, really smart" - Michael Bisping reveals the strategy that helped Tyson Fury beat Deontay Wilder
Michael Bisping has lauded Tyson Fury for his "really smart" strategy of tiring Deontay Wilder out by making the latter carry his weight.
In a video posted on the official Michael Bisping YouTube channel, ‘The Count’ addressed Tyson Fury’s thrilling 11th-round KO win over Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight. The UFC Hall of Famer emphasized that Fury used his weight advantage to lean on Wilder and sap his energy. Bisping stated:
“One thing that I thought Tyson Fury did really good – obviously, having a 30-something pound weight advantage, right? He made Deontay carry his weight. A lot of the time, because Tyson is taller, Deontay’s head was going under the armpit of Tyson Fury. And then, Tyson was leaning on him. So, that’s forcing Deontay to carry that 271 pounds of Tyson Fury. So, that’s adding to the exertion. Fighting, of course, when you’re both fresh, it’s knockout power, it’s skill. But when people start getting tired, whoever is the freshest – more than likely – that’s who’s going to win the fight.”
Bisping reiterated how fatigue adversely affects one’s performance and continued:
“So, Tyson, they were clinching up a lot, he was sticking him in a kind of a headlock. The referee even warned Tyson at one stage – no more headlocks. But he wasn’t trying to headlock him, but still, he was making Deontay Wilder carry his weight. And I thought that was really, really smart.”
You can watch Michael Bisping’s breakdown of the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder trilogy fight in the video below:
Tyson Fury’s path to the undisputed title goes through a fellow UK boxing star
Tyson Fury currently holds The Ring and WBC heavyweight titles. Meanwhile, Oleksandr Usyk holds the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight titles. Tyson’s father, John Fury, recently asserted that he’d like to see his son fight Usyk and that a fight with anyone else right now doesn’t make sense.
Capturing Usyk’s titles would make Tyson Fury the undisputed heavyweight champion. However, Fury first has to get past fellow UK heavyweight veteran Dillian Whyte, as the latter is the longstanding WBC mandatory challenger.
Furthermore, Usyk is scheduled to defend his titles in a rematch against Anthony Joshua next. The consensus is that the respective winners of Fury-Whyte and the Usyk-Joshua rematch could face one another for the undisputed title in 2022. One ought to note that Tyson Fury’s comeback date hasn’t been officially announced as of yet.