Deontay Wilder looks to add Tyson Fury to list of victims

Deontay Wilder can’t exactly explain where his prodigious power came from. And at this point in his illustrious boxing career, the 34-year-old WBC heavyweight champion doesn’t really try.

“I always tell the story of how my grandmother said I was anointed by God, that God is trying to use me for things,” Wilder said. “It’s just all about living, coming into this world and finding your purpose in life. I think I found one of my purposes in life, and, of course, that’s whooping ass and taking names, at this point in time. And I do that very well.”

With perhaps the most vaunted right hand in the history of the sport.

Wilder (42-0-1, 41 knockouts) can advance his legacy as maybe the most powerful puncher in boxing history by knocking out lineal champion Tyson Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in the rematch of their controversial split draw. Wilder staked a credible claim as the most ferocious pugilist ever in November after knocking out Luis Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden.

With one punch.

“What I do is not textbook,” Wilder said after beating Ortiz. “You can’t really teach it, and that’s what makes me unique. That’s what differentiates me from the rest of these fighters. At this point in time, I think I’ve earned my due respect and my credit to say that I am the hardest-hitting puncher in boxing history. Period.”

Wilder debuted professionally in 2008 and began his career with 32 consecutive knockout victories, saying he realized his power was uncanny after his first dozen or so fights. He’s stopped 20 foes in the first round, and his knockout percentage of 95.3 is the best among heavyweight champions — ahead of other revered knockout specialists Rocky Marciano, George Foreman and Mike Tyson.

“The hardest-punching heavyweight of all time — we needed that conversation,” said Foreman, who knocked out 84 percent of his opponents and ranks sixth all time. “That conversation is never supposed to die. We have it alive again with Deontay Wilder. I love it. … And he can hit, no doubt about that. But he’s in there with a fighter who can take a shot, and that’s Tyson Fury.”

He took two of them in their first fight.

On that fateful night in December 2018, Fury became the second fighter to go the distance with Wilder and is seeking a knockout of his own in the rematch. He has downplayed Wilder’s power, noting that he completed the first fight after recovering from the two knockdowns.

“He can’t be the biggest puncher in history because he couldn’t knock the Gypsy King out, could he? I took his best shot flush on the chin, and I got back up,” Fury said. “I don’t think it’s so much his power. It’s the speed it lands at, which can be tricky when you don’t see it coming. But then again, even a guy who’s got no knockout ratio, if he hits you and you don’t see it coming, then he’s going to put you down.”

Wilder has his chance to avenge the only draw of his career and insists he’ll stop Fury the same way he beat Ortiz, Dominic Breazeale and most of his other opponents.

In devastating fashion.

Wilder’s trainer, Jay Deas, says there’s a lot more skill and nuance to Wilder’s style than meets the eye. There’s timing. There’s spacing. There’s positioning. And then there’s the power.

His incomparable blessing.

“I know where I’m supposed to be, and it’s right here. Under the lights. Under the camera. In front of the people,” Wilder said. “The talent that I have, the things I’m able to do, it’s easy to differentiate me from the rest. It’s nothing you have to have a deep thought about. … 12 years I’ve been knocking guys out. I’ve been doing this for so long.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.