Wilder vs Fury: Pros react to controversial draw decision

Following Saturday night’s draw between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, our friends at Fight Hub TV caught up with a number of pros from the fight game, fighters and trainers both, to get their thoughts on the outcome and the bout.

Andre Berto: “It was a great fight. I’m gonna keep it — it probably could’ve been a draw, but if it had to go to somebody I would say Fury.”

Jarrett Hurd: “I think Wilder should’ve won the fight because of the two knockdowns. It was a close fight. Fury was doing his thing, but I think Wilder should’ve won that fight. ... I think Wilder’s gonna learn from it if they do a rematch, just like he did with Stiverne.”

Joe Joyce: “I thought it was a great fight to watch, it was very competitive. I thought it was a very close fight, but I thought Tyson Fury was up on the judges’ scorecards. I think the Showtime scorecards, as well, it seemed like he was well up. Wilder only had, like, two of the early rounds. Obviously he got the two knockdowns, which are 10-8 rounds, but it still didn’t add up to a draw. I thought Fury won.”

Abner Mares: “I saw the fight going Tyson Fury’s way. Early on, he was managing that jab well, that distance. He was getting into Deontay’s head and making him miss, definitely. But that first knockdown changed things. ... That last knockdown, obviously — I don’t know how he got up! His face, everything, his body was, like — I mean you gotta give the referee props, because any referee would have stopped it just by the way he went down. But besides the knockdowns, I still had Tyson Fury up. I thought he did enough to win the fight. I had him up by at least two rounds, for sure.”

Jaime Munguia: “I think the result of the fight was just. Fury won more rounds than Wilder, but Wilder evened it with the knockdowns. For me, it was a good fight and it would be a good rematch.”

Ken Porter: “I knew (Fury) was gonna cause Deontay problems. The thing is Deontay’s always got that chance of knocking you out. He wasn’t able to quite close it. I would have given him the decision, but I wasn’t scoring it round-for-round. What we’re seeing is justified because they can do it again.”

Naazim Richardson: “Boxing, you know what I mean? You can see how Deontay Wilder came out, he knew, if I don’t get this guy out of here, I’m not gonna win this fight. And he tried to get him out of there. I had Deontay up slightly, but I knew the way they were gonna judge it.”

Abel Sanchez: “Everybody in the building knew the right hand was coming and Deontay couldn’t land it unless Tyson got sloppy, which he did. ... 115-111 Tyson Fury. There should be a rematch, but Anthony Joshua’s out there. I think there’s a possibility of one of the two guys fighting Anthony Joshua. ... I think that these two guys have given us the kind of fight that demands a rematch.”