With minimal dithering and even less time marinating a fight that will sell itself, the rematch between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs), the knockout artist from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), the wily boxer-puncher from Manchester, England, has been officially announced and will be held on Saturday, February 22, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

“I’m happy and I’m excited that the rematch is finally happening,” said Wilder. “I want to give the fans what they want to see. I’ve been doing it with my last three outings—Fury, Breazeale and Ortiz. They’ve been spectacular events—from my ring walks where I gather all the energy of the people, to my uniforms that I wear to help spread that energy. Then I give them what they all come for—the knockouts, and my knockouts have been amazing. I proved myself the first time and I’m ready to do it again. It was a very controversial fight. I promise my fans that there won’t be any controversy with this one. I’m going to finish it.”

 

Wilder had better finish it this time. There was some aromatic home cooking, just like mama used to make, in the first fight, and the judges scored it a draw. The quaint notion that round-by-round scoring is meaningful was disregarded in LA.

 

“There’s no more ducking and diving,” said Fury, who has momentarily shifted his attention away from wrestling and MMA back toward boxing. “The date has been set, and the ‘Bomb Squad’ is about to be securely detonated and the real champion crowned as the world watches on for the most anticipated fight in years. This is unfinished business for me, but come February 22, this dosser will finally get what’s coming to him, and I can’t wait!”

 

Fans of the fighters are in their separate enclaves, sharpening their best bon mots for the war of words ahead. Fury fans show no restraint when it comes to Deontay Wilder, and no doubt vice-versa.   

 

“You have no boxing ability,” a Fury fan tweeted Wilder. “Good luck with them swing and miss.”

 

Another suggested Wilder, “Be prepared to hand the belts over.”

 

A paranoid Fury partisan told Wilder, “Keep paying them judges.”

 

Another was more discreet, if a less proficient speller: “Your getting dropped Bronze Dosser.”