DEONTAY WILDER must prepare himself for all versions of Tyson Fury and learn to box on his bike – his ex-sparring partner warned.
Fury outboxed Wilder for the majority of their 2018 fight on the back foot, but was twice floored, meaning he walked away with only a draw.
In the rematch two years on, he brilliantly switched tactics to go on the offensive, scoring two knockdowns of his own before winning in round seven.
Wilder was bemused by Fury’s role reversal, and was unable to deal with the 19st 5lb behemoth coming his way as he was driven backwards.
That was despite bringing in 6ft 8in German amateur Emanuel Odiase to replicate the Gypsy King in sparring beforehand.
Odiase has now urged the American to expect both the cautious and aggressive Fury and revealed a key to victory would be getting comfortable boxing on the move.
He told SunSport: “I feel like that’s the two Tyson Fury’s that Wilder’s got to prepare for, now he can compare for both Tyson Fury’s.
“With Wilder, he’s really never been able to showcase that he can box going backwards, so what Tyson figured in the last round of that first fight is that he can bring Deontay Wilder problems if he backs him up.
“So what Deontay needs to work on is boxing backwards, and I don’t know if he can learn it in such a short space of time.
“If he’s able to work on that, just jabbing and trying to counter with the right hand, then it might be a different fight.”
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Since Wilder’s first professional defeat, he has shaken up his team and hired Malik Scott – who he knocked out in 2014 – as his new coach.
Odiase, who was a hopeful for the 2024 Olympics but now has his eye on the pro ranks, has already been in touch to repeat his role as Fury replica.
But superstitious Wilder may opt for a whole new set of sparring partners ahead of his July 24 trilogy bout, having failed the last time out.
Odiase said: “I have spoken to Malik Scott a couple of times and he said he’s going to throw my name out there for sparring.
“But we’ll see, I don’t know if it’s something mentally with Wilder, he doesn’t want the same sparring partners from last year or whatever.
“But I feel like I could give them great work as even last year to this year.
“I’ve gained like 12kg, so I could give them great work in preparation for this fight.”
Wilder, 35, had a nervous wait to find out whether he would get his contracted third fight with Fury.
The Brit, 32, had tried to argue the stipulation expired, and entered talks with Anthony Joshua, 31, for an undisputed title decider in the summer.
As terms were agreed for August 14 in Saudi Arabia, a US arbitrator ruled in favour of Wilder, cancelling the proposed unification in the Middle East.
Then the ex-WBC champion came face-to-face with Fury for the first time in a pre-fight press conference, but refused to answer questions.
Odiase spotted the mean intentions in Wilder’s eyes during the drawn out stare-down on stage, as he offered up a prediction for the rematch.
He said: “As far as the outcome; it’s heavyweight boxing and after seeing the stare down I can say Deontay is really serious about it.
“He wants to avenge that loss but it’s hard because Tyson is a very talented boxer, but Deontay has knockout power, he can knock out anyone.
“It’s just about Deontay having a good night and Tyson slipping up for a second, then he can knock him out.
“As far as boxing, Tyson is more talented.”
