In the sweet science of boxing not many know the value of a second chance more than George Foreman. Foreman is the oldest heavyweight boxing champ of all time. The former world champion backed Deontay Wilder to regain his titles in the trilogy fight with Tyson Fury.
Wilder and Fury have met twice in the ring before. During the first outing, the two couldn’t be separated on the judges’ scorecard. However, Fury cruised to a victory when the two met again earlier this year. “The Gypsy King” floored “The Bronze Bomber” in the seventh round. Shortly after the fight, Wilder invoked his rematch clause and the trilogy was booked for June later this year.
But with Coronavirus forcing a shutdown on all sports, the trilogy isn’t expected to take place before October.
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Both boxing pundits and the fans don’t give Wilder much of a chance in the trilogy. Deontay has been criticised for being a one-dimensional puncher. He even hit Fury with his best shot in their first fight, only to see Fury rise again.
However, George Foreman, after talking to Wilder, favoured him against Fury. As reported by The Sun, Foreman said that he had a nice conversation with the former champ.
“We talked because I was in a position where I lost unexpectedly with the title in Africa. Only I know what he’s going through,” said Foreman.
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George Foreman believes Deontay Wilder can ‘easily’ defeat Tyson Fury
When Foreman talked about Africa, he was referring to his defeat against Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” match. That was the first defeat of his professional career. However, Foreman rebounded from the loss and went on to regain his belt. He showed confidence that Wilder can do it too.
“He’s gonna have to live with (the Fury loss) but I can show him how to live with that and come back better. We talked a lot on those lines.”
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“Not only beat him, (Wilder) can do it easily. Give him another chance. He’ll show you.”
Tyson Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, has talked about moving the fight to the UK if conditions don’t permit for it to take place in the US. That would give the current champ an added advantage of fighting on his home soil.