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Can Fury return to heavyweight pinnacle with win over Wilder?

Tyson Fury has a daunting task ahead of himself this weekend. But it won’t be the first time for the former unified heavyweight world champion. 

The undefeated self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ will take to the Staples Center in Los Angeles this Saturday night in search of yet another monumental career feat. 

After two consecutive victories on his return from a two-and-a-half-year lay-off from the sport, against inferior opponents Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta, Fury will next contest reigning WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder

The former unified champion of the world will climb through the ring ropes on December 1st as the best-priced 6/4 underdog through bookies listed on Oddschecker to secure arguably his biggest and best career victory to date. 

Fury has been in this situation before when he was preparing to collide with Ukrainian division legend Wladimir Klitschko back in November 2015, the longest reigning world heavyweight champion in history. 

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Anthony Joshua rematch by Karl-Ludwig Poggemann (CC BY 2.0)

Despite travelling to Germany to challenge ‘Dr Steelhammer’, who had not lost for a decade during his dominance at the pinnacle of the division, Fury put in the best performance of his career to stifle and ultimately overcome Klitschko.

Before the bell had even sounded for that clash on German soil, it was evident that Fury had already rattled the then-defending champion with his antics and exploits in the lead-up. Klitschko simply had not witnessed anything like it before coming across the controversial Manchester-born fighter. 

Inside the ring Fury was able to keep the Ukrainian at bay for the majority of proceedings, with Klitschko not making an effort to push hard until the dying stages of the bout and by then it was far too late. 

Fury ran out a clear, comfortable and deserving victor over 12 tactical rounds on his travels to the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, securing a unanimous decision triumph in front of a highly partisan crowd. 

But then came the most turbulent and testing part of his career and life. Fury simply spiralled out of control and had to endure well-documented mental health issues in this time. 

This saw him vacate the crowns which he brilliantly won by dethroning Klitschko and what followed was over two years of inactivity. 

That came to an end earlier this year, as Fury finally returned to the ring to overcome Sefer on his comeback encounter. It was a routine win as he rallied to a fourth-round stoppage success. 

Next up was a spot on Carl Frampton’s undercard at Windsor Park in Belfast, where he then got another ten rounds under his belt in a comfortable decision victory in front of the Irish fight fans. 

Those two ring outings were not exactly great preparation for a mammoth match-up against the current undefeated WBC titleholder Wilder, who has been much more active and got the better of sterner opposition. 

The hard-hitting American earned the best and most impressive win of his own career back in March of this year, as he rallied back from worrying moments to brutally stop Cuban contender Luis Ortiz in 10 rounds. 

Southpaw Ortiz did cause plenty of problems for Wilder during the course of that clash and Fury will look to exploit any possible weaknesses when they next collide on American territory. 

With his unique ring capabilities for a heavyweight, Fury is more than capable of giving Wilder plenty of issues. But the long layoff and lack of quality foes since returning is still a concern. 

Although, Fury was written off before heading to face Klitschko in Germany and he may put any doubts over his ability this time around again with a supreme success over Wilder. 

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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