Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye believes Tyson Fury should underestimate old rival Deontay Wilder at his peril.
Reigning WBC king Fury is a strong 1/3 favourite for the trilogy bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, having demolished the Bronze Bomber in seven rounds in February 2020 following a controversial draw in December 2018.
But with the American’s chances widely dismissed, in the UK at least, Haye feels Wilder should not be overlooked, given his venomous right hand and thirst for vengeance in this fight.
“Everybody is completely writing off Wilder for this third fight,” Haye told Talksport. “I haven’t spoken to anybody who thinks he has a shot in this fight. I don’t see it that way.
“I’ve seen Fury not preparing like he did the second time around. There were the well-publicised rumours about the fight being delayed because preparation wasn’t going that well. He only got into Vegas late September.
“Three-week training camp for a fight of this magnitude? Maybe there’s some over-confidence. He is so supremely confident from the second fight, he thinks he can roll into this third fight and it’ll be a home run.
“Wilder seems like he’s got a massive point to prove. Fury feels like he just wants to get in there and get him out of the way. It’s a bad energy to have going into a fight. He needs to realise this is the biggest fight of his life.
“Wilder wants to prove to the world that he’s better than people think he is. He’ll train harder than he’s ever trained in his life. Fury, on the other hand, he’s had a lot of issues that have distracted him from being in the gym and training, completely understandable, but putting all these things together, it’ll make for a cracking night.”