Tyson Fury defends his WBC heavyweight boxing crown on Saturday when he faces Deontay Wilder for the third — and probably final — installment of an acrimonious three-year ring rivalry.

A tortuous build-up marked by bitter legal wrangling, a Covid-19 outbreak and profanity-laced accusations of cheating comes to a head when Fury and Wilder clamber through the ropes at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

If Wednesday’s ill-tempered final press conference is any guide, the stage is set for another explosive contest between the undefeated Fury, the self-styled “Gypsy King” from Britain, and Wilder, the hard-hitting “Bronze Bomber” from Alabama.

The two heavyweights fought to a bruising draw in their first fight in Los Angeles in 2018, when Fury somehow survived a crushing 12th round knockdown after outboxing Wilder for much of the contest.

Fury (30-0-1, 21 knockouts) then dethroned Wilder in February last year, dishing out a one-sided beating en route to a seventh-round knockout that emphatically ended Wilder’s five-year reign as WBC champion.

Neither man has fought since that fight 20 months ago, and Fury was forced to scrap plans for a money-spinning bout with former WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua after an independent arbitrator in May ruled that Wilder was entitled to a rematch for a third fight. 

An outbreak of Covid-19 in Fury’s camp, which affected the British champion and several members of his entourage, forced the fight to be delayed further from July to October.

Wilder, meanwhile, insists his defeat to Fury last time was an aberration, offering a series of outlandish and unproven explanations for the loss, ranging from glove-tampering to having his water spiked by his former trainer.

Fury pounced on those comments by Wilder (42-1-1, 41 knockouts) when the two men shared a stage at a press conference on Wednesday.

“He knows what he’s saying is lies,” Fury said of Wilder’s cheating claims.

 “And deep down in his soul, he knows that he lost. He lost the first time, he lost the second time and he’s going to lose the third time.”

Wilder has replaced his trainer since last year’s loss to Fury, sacking Mark Breland — who he had accused of throwing in the towel too soon — and replacing him with Malik Scott, a 40-year-old former heavyweight who suffered a first round knockout to Wilder during his own career. – AFP