LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tyson Fury leaned into the microphone and issued an audacious prediction to Deontay Wilder regarding their heavyweight rematch.
"You're going to sleep in two rounds," the English champion said Monday.
Wilder replied by picking up his own microphone and loudly sniffing it, mocking Fury for his past problems with drug abuse.
When these two unbeaten heavyweights got together Monday in downtown Los Angeles, they picked up right where they left off across the street in December 2018.
Their thrilling split draw at Staples Center has led to a rematch Feb. 22 in Las Vegas, and both men claim they expect a knockout victory in what is the most-anticipated heavyweight title fight in recent years.
Although both fighters are skilled in the craft of promotional hyperbole, it was still a surprise when Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) declared he can knock out Wilder within the first six minutes next month.
A knockout prediction is no surprise at all coming from Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs), whose peerless punching power dropped Fury twice in their first bout. The fight's most memorable moment was Fury's stunning rise from a 12th-round knockdown that had left him flat on his back.
"I'm prepared for more than ever," Wilder said. "I told Fury two years ago I was going to baptize him, and I did just that. Rising up is part of the baptism. I told him he was going to go, 'Timber!' And he did just that. This time around, it's called unfinished business. He won't be able to get back up. This time, I'm going to knock him out."
Wilder also suggested Fury's bravado masks the British boxer's worries about his chin and his American opponent's ferocity. Wilder points to Fury's less-than-impressive effort against Sweden's Otto Wallin in September as a sign of his decline.