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Arena Boxing Coaches Discuss Wilder vs Fury II

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This past weekend the world witnessed the WBC Championship rematch between Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury. Check out what The Arena’s Boxing Coaches Joe Vargas and Coach Basheer Abdullah have to say about that epic bout.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Basheer Abdullah:
Hey, what’s up, Arena family. Joe and I were just sitting around the gym speaking with some of our members here and some of our fighters, and we were discussing the Wilder and Fury fight. And so we just wanted to sit here in the corner and share our thoughts. The results of that fight, the outcome of that fight was very surprising to most of us. What do you think, Joe?

Joe Vargas:
I mean, yeah, I didn’t see that outcome. I was torn 50-50 for that fight. I wanted the best man to win that fight, but Fury just changed the whole game, by my opinion, by walking forward and changing the mindset of Wilder.

Basheer Abdullah:
And you got to give Team fury private credit. I assume that they saw something in the tape and video that made them believe that Wilder couldn’t fight off the back leg going backwards. So, they came up with the strategy of pressing forward and Fury putting on those extra pounds, and to bend a bigger guy, and they want to press forward. Well executed. But we know Wilde is a warrior. He has the opportunity to come back in the third fight, in the trilogy. Me personally, I know him very well and I hope he take a little bit more time and make some adjustments, get a couple of tune-up fights, and then take that third fight. But me, if I was the bet on it, Wilder is going to try to get that fight before the year is out.

Joe Vargas:
Basheer just said it all. I mean, he knows him very well. For me, for example, I’m just excited that we’re talking about the heavyweight division again, and it’s exciting. Big props to Fury and his whole team for making the right adjustment for that fight. And he already put it together and he said it perfect. The team with the best adjustment won the fight. Fury just executed everything perfect.

Basheer Abdullah:
And I think it’s not over. I think we’re going to see that third fight. And of course, my heart is with Wilder. Okay? I want him to be victorious, but I do think he need to make some adjustments. I think Wilder need to make some changes with his team. I’m not saying get rid of anyone, but I think he need to add another piece to that. Maybe an adviser, someone that has a little bit more experience in the corner. And also, I would even suggest to him to take his camps elsewhere, out of Alabama, get out of his comfort zone. And I pray that he’s willing to be open to learning again. His big right hand has allowed him to be successful for a very long time. At now it’s time to add something else to his arsenal.

Joe Vargas:
I always teach the guys, if they want to land the right hand, they got to hide it behind a jab or a hook or fade in a little bit more. He depended on that right hand so much. Like coach said, he needs to add a little bit, another piece of that to that puzzle.

Basheer Abdullah:
But to all his haters, he still going down as one of the greatest heavy weights of all time. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. So Hey, you guys stop hating, quit being keyboard gangsters, or keyboard boxes, as we say. Hey, Wilder, we still with you, you still represent America. America first, as Donald Trump would say.

Joe Vargas:
Wilder showed he had so much heart in that fight. All these people, these keyboard gangsters, they don’t know what it feels like to get hit like that.

Basheer Abdullah:
That’s right.

Joe Vargas:
Wilder stood in there and did everything he could to try to win. Even when they stopped the fight, he was upset. He would have kept fighting. He was too dangerous for himself. He would have went and he would have put it all on the line.

Basheer Abdullah:
Right. And that’s one more thing to add, too, because there’s a lot of conversation on social media also about, should the fight had been stopped? If I was in that corner, yes, I would have stopped that fight, maybe sooner. And I pray that Wilder will somehow grow to understand why his trainer, Mark Greenland, stopped that fight. Hey, Wilder is a warrior. Wilder, I know, would die in that ring. I know he would die in that ring. But he got to understand, as trainers, were in a different position. We want to send him back, our fighters, back home to their families, to the wives, the kids, et cetera. So, sometimes we placed in tough positions to make tough decisions. And I applaud Mark Greenland for making the decision that he made.

Joe Vargas:
Before that, me and coach, we were having a little conversation. And he said, he’d rather stop the fight and fire himself and be able to shake his kid’s hands. And that was deep. He wouldn’t have no problem looking at his fighters kid’s eyes because he has more integrity than that. You know what I mean? And that’s what I liked, because a lot of the coaches are inexperienced in that corner. And that was the right decision by Mark Greenland.

Basheer Abdullah:
So, that’s our thoughts from The Arena. You guys take care.

Joe Vargas:
You got a lot of vide to edit, dog.

Basheer Abdullah:
Yeah. He going to be cutting.

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