Matt Maher: Tyson Fury has to be wary of Wilder’s ‘atomic bombs’

Few in the business could have come up with a better analogy than when he this week compared his title defence against Deontay Wilder this weekend to ‘playing with an atomic bomb’.

That is certainly an appropriate way to describe the American’s punching power, which twice put Fury on the canvas during their first meeting in 2019, a fight the Briton otherwise dominated in everyone’s eyes other than the judges.

Fury’s win by knockout in their second bout 20 months ago means Wilder has been written off in many quarters but it is precisely that underdog status, now he is the man with everything to gain and nothing to lose, which makes him a doubly dangerous opponent.

The fact the fight is taking place after an American court ruling further highlights this is a contest Fury didn’t really want and certainly doesn’t need.

It is not as though any reminders are required that in boxing there is no such thing as a sure thing. We are still less than a fortnight on from Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Oleksander Usyk in a fight the former entered as the healthy favourite.

That result came as a disappointment to many British boxing fans as it took off the table, at least for now, the prospect of an historic unification bout between Joshua and Fury.

But for the sport in general and in particular heavyweight boxing, there is an argument it was no bad thing. Unpredictability is crucial to the appeal of any sport and in the years when it was Klitschko-dominated borefest, boxing’s biggest-hitting division had precious little of that.

Now it is alive with intrigue and possibility. Should Fury win, as expected, it will set up a likely unification fight with either Joshua or Usyk, depending on who wins their expected rematch.

If Wilder pulls off the upset, all bets are off and for promoters there would doubtless be a few headaches. Fans can at least depend on the fact that whatever happens, it won’t be boring.