Rewatching Wilder-Fury 1, or Why Judging in Boxing Makes No Sense and Everybody is Wrong

The countdown has hit three weeks and I told myself I was going to rewatch Wilder Fury 1, and here we are: it’s Saturday night, it’s one a.m, and I’ve got a glass of rum with ice that has melted just enough. LESSSGOOOOOO.

First impressions, Wilder is so good on camera, “Once in a while, you’ve got to teach someone a lesson, and luckily, this sport is great for teaching lessons”. That is a line! Back to the fight. Fury’s walk-out is absolutely terrible. I don’t know what is going on. Some 90s techno? He’s dancing? I don’t get it. Maybe it’s an English thing. Seriously though, one of the worse walk-outs I’ve ever seen. I watched this fight live on my phone at my cousin’s Christmukkah party so I missed the walk-outs. Good riddance. On a side note, Deontay’s walk-out against Dominic Brazeale was the best walk-out of all time, so let’s see what he does here.

Alright, so it seems like a Rolex is hanging in the sky. And now there is a marching band playing “get the fuck out the way” and fucking Jay Rock is there so this walk out is pretty much 100x better than the shit I just watched with Fury. Also, I will NEVER get tired of those gold plated face masks and crowns. The guy has a cape of feathers on right now with a gold face mask and crown. Get outta here. This is deadly.

The ring walks are now over. Tale of the tape seems pretty standard, nothing crazy. One interesting fact, this is Tyson Fury’s SECOND title fight!? It seems like a year later, Tyson Fury is a veteran of title fights, but compared to the Bronze Bomber he is a bald newborn babe. Love that angle, wish Deontay played that up in the pre-fight for the Wilder Fury 2. 

Shoutout to the Canadian Judge from Winnipeg, Robert Tapper. Hope he is the one who gives it to Wilder. BOMBZQUAD. I also can’t believe how negative the crowd is to Wilder. I imagine it will be quite different come Feb 22, the guy has really blown his stock sky high. 

ROUND 1

Typical slow start to this first round. Wilder looking calm, but about thirty seconds in, lunges with a wild right and left. Does tag Fury a bit tho. Fury with some ridiculous showboating, putting his hands behind his back. It’s the FIRST ROUND BRO, CHILL. Couple decent jabs by Fury, Wilder tho showing good defence, another exchange and then a nice left hook by Wilder. Again some good jabs by Fury. Another couple good shots by Fury to end the round. Wilder sending some wild haymakers in the final second. Overall, probably more shots landed by Fury but nothing of value. 

FURY 10 – 9 WILDER

ROUND 2

Wilder’s jab seems pretty ineffective so far. Throwing it a lot more in round two though. Just can’t seem to land. Wilder lands a nice combo but Fury answers right back. Mostly into Wilder’s gloves tho. A pretty uneventful round, but I would definitely give it to Wilder. A good combo at the end seals the deal.

FURY 19 – 19 WILDER

ROUND 3

I’m out of rum and it’s only the third round so this is going terribly. Honestly, Wilder definitely does not look as outmatched as I remember being told. His punches are more significant when they land, Fury just paws at him and slaps. Good body shot by Wilder. Another hands behind the back move. Fury lands a right but Wilder lands right back.  Ooh, big miss by Wilder. Fury tags him with a couple slaps. Another big body shot by Wilder. Someone could steal this round in the last 10 seconds. Aaaaaand, no one does. Gonna give that round to Wilder because seeing this slap punches on replay really lend credence to the fact that the Gypsy King really does have pillows for fists. Interesting Ben Davison telling Fury not to take the opportunities he has right now and to sit back.

FURY 28 – 29 WILDER

ROUND 4

First minute, again, fairly uneventful. Fury makes Wilder step back with a check hook. Wilder keeps trying to land that right hand but lo and behold, he just can’t. Again tho, Wilder is landing some shots. Fury just seems to have no power. I don’t know. Maybe hindsight is 20-20, but I can’t see Fury hurting Wilder. Good shot by Wilder but Fury answers with a combo. Wilder draws blood. Again, I COULD GIVE THAT ROUND TO WILDER. These people complaining about a draw are fucked.

FURY 37 – 39 WILDER

ROUND 5

Chadwick Boseman in the house, represent. WAKANDA FOREVER. I really need to see something from Fury this round. I’m literally changing my bet365 decisions as I watch this. Fury was not as dominant as everyone remembers, and I believe Wilder has improved. A minute and a half left in the 5th and there is no definitive winner for this round. FURY HAS THROWN 9 PUNCHES. Seems like both are taking this round off. Wilder still ctronlling the ring tho. Don’t @ me, but if a judge was to do something like favour a fighter who controlled the ring, Wilder could definitely be given these rounds. I think Fury landed a few more shots tho in the final minute so I’ll give him this round but once again, it coulda gone either way depending on how you scored it.

FURY 47 – 48 WILDER

ROUND 6

Floyd Mayweather Jr giving some great analysis. He’s against me though. Just announced that it was 5-0 Fury throughout the first five rounds, so maybe those pillow slaps seem like they do more damage live. Paulie just gave Deontay one round, so what the fuck am I watching. Although, Fury just had the most success of the fight, walking down Wilder. Another few good pops and Fury is dancing around. Wilder landing the odd jab but it doesn’t seem like he has figured out Fury yet. These guys just said this was a close round and it was literally the strongest round for Fury. So do these guys know what they are talking about? The answer is no.

FURY 57 – 57 WILDER

ROUND 7

Alright. So Fury really has started to take control tactically. Wilder is looking more and more and lost out there. Fury making Wilder miss, but STILL THESE ARE NOT HARD SHOTS FURY IS THROWING. Crazy stat just mentioned, Wilder is at 14% power punches landed. Career is 53%. Fury having more success now. Really making Wilder miss and landing some harder shots. So far this is the clearest round I have had for Fury yet. Wilder is just loading up on the 1-2. Fury ends the round by avoiding a Wilder combo and that is crux of round 7.

FURY 67 – 66 WILDER

ROUND 8

Fury seeming to land his jab at will now. Wilder can’t land much. Steve Farhood has it 69-64 for Fury right now, but I don’t think it is that wide. Lands a combination to the body though as I say that. Wilder has thrown maybe three punches this round. Fury begins to showboat due to Wilder’s inactivity. Honestly can’t wait for round 9, fuck this big bald bastard. Wilder does look lost these last few rounds tho. Wilder with fairly ineffective flurry to end the round, and we heading to 9!

FURY 77 – 75 WILDER

ROUND 9

Interesting Paulie calling it as the round begins “Wilder needs a couple knockdowns”. AND THERE IT IS! Wilder catches with the left and Fury is on the canvas. Salutes the crowd while he is down there! WIlder is unleashed right now. I haven’t seen this many windmills since the Sound of Music. This is the best round of the fight. Wilder gasping for air. Fury showboats again. Arms out. Tongue wagging. Say what you will but he’s a personality. Welp. My fucking stream crashed. And I’m out of rum. Gonna hit the weed vape and reload for round 10, lesssgooooo.

FURY 85 – 85 WILDER

ROUND 10

I’m too lit to quit and now we’re going for it. Round 10 baby. Championship rounds. I have no idea what happens until round 12, but I can only assume Fury wins the next two rounds. You know what that means suckas. THE DRAW IS LEGIT. Let’s see tho. Fury seems angry to start the round. Really didn’t like getting dropped. Throwing hard 1-2’s to start. Midway point of the round and nothing of note has really happened except Fury is dominating this round. Straight 1-2s, Wilder misses, straight 1-2, Wilder lands a grazing shot. Definitely a bounce back round for the Gypsy King. Fury looking so light on his feet. I heard people saying he gassed late but man, doesn’t look like it in round 10. Wilder throws a flurry to end it but Fury dodges most. 

FURY 95 – 94 WILDER

ROUND 11

I’m gonna look up the judges scorecards after this re-watch and see what rounds they scored for Wilder because as the fight goes deeper it gets harder to see how he won earlier rounds. 1 of 39 punches landed in round 10 for Wilder. 10 of 41 for Fury. Round 11 starts the same way as Round 10. Fury walking him down. It truly is amazing how fast Fury can dodge those punches for such a huge man. Wilder really can’t do anything this round. Another clear round for Fury.

FURY 105 – 103 WILDER

ROUND 12

The announcers already have it in the bag for Fury, praising his comeback, comparing him to Lazarus AND DOWN GOES FURY. Incredible. Still incredible. His eyes open. Goosebumps as he gets up. This round truly is legendary. Wilder swinging for the fences. Haymaker after haymaker. I cannot believe Fury showboats after this. And tags WILDER. Wilder tying up, holding on. 58 seconds left. They break. The pace slows for a second. Wilder still looks shaky. 28 seconds left. Fury tags him again. Goes at the body. Wilder clinches. He’s not going for it. One last shot by Wilder and the bell sounds. Both men celebrate as if they won. Man. What a round. This rewatch was worth it just for that. 

FURY 113 – 113 WILDER

Looking at the official scorecards, they are pretty batshit. 

Alejandro Rochin, who had Wilder up 115-111 scored rounds 1-4, 8,9,10 and 12 for Wilder. I can’t see how you can score round 8 for Wilder, but I guess the other rounds kind of make sense. I agreed with 2-4.

Robert Tapper who had Fury up 114-112 scored round 1 for Wilder and round 2-6 for Fury!? And Round 7 for Wilder? I called that the clearest Fury round thus far in the fight.

The final card, by Phil Edwards was the same score as mine, 113-113, but it is the craziest one of all. We literally had opposite rounds. He gave Wilder round 1, and Fury 2-5, and gave Wilder 6 and 7. I legitmately think this guy was accidentally scoring backwards on his card until the knockdown and then was like “oh fuck, good thing it’s gonna be a draw anyway!”

So if there is one takeaway here, scoring boxing is completely illogical and subjective and god knows who actually wins these close fights. I think that is a real takeaway here, this was a close fight. Fury didn’t do anything significant in the first 5 rounds. And I can see judges rewarding Wilder for his aggression and ring generalship. The second fight is going to be incredibly interesting to see who can adapt. Wilder’s fight versus Ortiz showed his patience, but will he be able to catch Fury in the same way? Has changing trainers doomed Fury to change his game plan and expose himself to Wilder’s power? 

My head says it will a Fury UD, but my heart says Wilder KO, and we all know you should never trust your heart because it fucks you over and over again so….

Fuck you brain! Laying it on the line: Wilder KO8