Live from Las Vegas: Fury, Wilder weigh in at their heaviest ever before trilogy fight

LAS VEGAS — Despite there being no spectators allowed at the weigh-in for Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III, and no face off between the combatants, on Friday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, it was still eventful thanks to Fury’s off-the-rails post-weigh-in television interview.

Heavyweight champion Fury and former titlist Wilder both weighed in at career-heavy weights and made their final comments before they will do will do battle for the third time on Saturday night (ESPN/Fox PPV, 9 ET) at T-Mobile Arena.

Here is my weigh-in story, including Fury’s wild comments, for The Ring magazine website: https://www.ringtv.com/628267-fury-and-wilder-weigh-in-at-career-heaviest-in-a-tense-private-event/#.YWEAP74eV5U.twitter

While Fury-Wilder III tops the bill, here is what else, in order, you will see on the all-heavyweight PPV:

• Frank Sanchez (18-0, 13 KOs) vs. Efe Ajagba (15-0, 12 KOs), 10 rounds

• Robert Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs) vs. Adam Kownacki, rematch, 12 rounds

• Jared Anderson (9-0, 9 KOs) vs. Vladimir Tereshkin (22-0-1, 12 KOs), 8 rounds

Before the PPV begins these two bouts will air live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, FS1 and Fox Deportes beginning at 7 p.m.:

• Super middleweights: Edgar Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs) vs. Marcelo Esteban Coceres (30-2-1, 16 KOs), 10 rounds

• Junior middleweights: Julian “J-Rock” Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs) vs. Vladimir Hernandez (12-4, 6 KOs), 10 rounds

iFL TV appearance

I joined my friends at iFL TV inside the Fury-Wilder III media center for a detailed discussion on the main event. We also looked back at  Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk from two weeks ago, looked ahead to the likely rematch and talked WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte. Please check out the video here:

Trainer comments

Both trainers have had a lot to say. Here are some comments from Fury head trainer SugarHill Steward, who is leading Fury’s corner for the second time, and Wilder head trainer Malik Scott, a longtime assistant, who has been promoted to head trainer for this fight.

Steward

“Training Tyson Fury has been just about making him better. He was already an exceptional boxer before I started training him. We fine-tuned those skills and understood some things that he didn’t see. Most importantly, it’s just about being ready. When he’s ready, he’s unstoppable.

“Tyson Fury is very conscious of Deontay’s abilities. We’re just concentrating on being sharp and being focused. There’s always more to learn in boxing and Tyson is learning and having fun with it.

“It’s exciting to be here. I believe in what the Wilder camp has been working on. I’ve looked at the clips. It gets me motivated to keep working with Tyson. We’re expecting nothing less than a knockout.”

Scott

“I’m a student of the game. Deontay, in my opinion, ruled the heavyweight division just using one or two weapons. Being in training with him, I used to always say that a lot of his skills weren’t being used. He got content knocking people out with one weapon, the right hand.

“What I did was I went into Deontay’s toolbox and pulled everything out that he did well. I wanted to make sure that we drilled it over and over again. And that’s what I did. I didn’t teach him anything new. Deontay Wilder can do it all, I just pulled some of those things out of him. I made sure we drilled him with intent.

“When it comes to working on Deontay’s fundamentals, he has good fundamentals, he just didn’t always use them. I’m just reminding him about tools that he wasn’t using.”

Eubank rescheduled

British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. did not have to wait long to have his fight rescheduled.

Eubank (30-2, 22 KOs), 32, will take on Wanik Awdijan (28-1, 11 KOs), 29, of Germany, in a 10-round bout in a fight that has been added to Boxxer’s Sky Sports card on Oct. 16 at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England.

Eubank was due to face Anatoli Muratov in the main event of the first card of Boxxer’s new deal with Sky Sports on Oct. 2 in London. However, the fight was canceled on fight day when the British Boxing Board of Control raised unspecified concerns over late replacement Muratov’s pre-fight medicals.

“It was always the plan to get straight back out,” Eubank said. “The cancellation was completely unexpected. It’s a rare situation, it was frustrating, but I get it. Some things are out of everybody’s control. Now, I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring and fighting in Newcastle.

"My opponent, Wanik Awdijan, is a serious guy. I’ve watched a couple of his fights now. He’s got a good record, he’s 6-foot-2, he knows what he’s doing and will bring a different challenge. But it’s nothing we can’t take care of. At this stage, I’ve not had a full camp to work on things for this fight, but I’ve been working hard with (trainer Roy Jones Jr.) and I will have more than enough to get the win over the line.”

Fury photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions

Davis photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Berlanga photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Williams photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions

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