Wilder-Fury 2: Wild Betting Lines For A Furious Heavyweight Sequel

The highly anticipated Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch is this weekend, and while it’s still just February 2020, the contest already has Fight of the Year buzz. The rematch has been big news since the two fought to a controversial draw on December 1, 2018.

In that fight, Wilder floored Fury twice, but the judges were all over the place, scoring the bout 115-111 for Wilder, 114-112 for Fury, and 113-113 even. The boxing fandom – and the US sports betting crowd – were unimpressed.

Wilder-Fury 2, dubbed “Unfinished Business,” should result in a more concrete, satisfying outcome. Fury is the better “pure boxer,” but Wilder is – as his name implies – wilder. More importantly, both fighters have tremendous followings, with Wilder fighting out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Fury fighting out of Manchester, England.

Wilder-Fury 2 Betting Odds

Via Bovada

Deontay Wilder -125
Tyson Fury +105
Draw +2200

As you can see, Wilder is a narrow favorite in the rematch, though bettors are banking on the fact that the judges won’t draw the pair again. The critical, lucrative “Trilogy” table is already set regardless of who wins this time, so the legitimate winner should actually get the hardware to show for his efforts.

For bettors, judging malfeasance and rematch “set up” scoring is always an issue, but because the first bout was a tie, there should be no scoring shenanigans for the sequel.

And that’s good, because the fight – expected to be a legendary, old-school slugfest – couldn’t come at a better time for the sport of boxing.

Until Deontay Wilder burst onto the scene, heavyweight boxing has been in something of a drought, with Lennox Lewis being the last major draw in the weight class.

However, after Tyson Fury put an end to the seemingly endless mundanity of the decade-long Wladimir Klitschko reign in the division back in 2015 (before flaming out in spectacular fashion in the years to follow), hope started building for the division. And that hope has now been fully realized in Wilder.

Nicknamed the Bronze Bomber, Wilder lives up to both his handles, possessing a wild style and historically thunderous right hand that negates his comparative lack of “technical” boxing acumen. His record stands at 42-0-1, with 41 of his victories coming by way of knockout.

That 98% KO rate is the best in professional boxing history, though many critics point out – fairly or unfairly – that his fights have been mostly contested against journeymen and middling heavyweight talent.

Of course, Wilder-Fury 1 proved that the Bomber can bang with the best of them, and Fury proved to have a chin and constitution of absolute granite. How he got up against this vicious Wilder knockdown in Round 12 of the first fight is the stuff of legend:

Wilder Vs. Fury 2 Fight Information