Ben Davison thinks Tyson Fury will beat Deontay Wilder again in their third fight.

Whether Fury defeats Wilder by out-boxing him, Fury’s strategy in their first fight, or by overwhelming Wilder with physicality and pressure again will depend on how Wilder goes about that third meeting. Davison, Fury’s former trainer, expects Wilder to increase his punch output when they fight again because it’s the only strategy that has a chance to work for the Alabama-based knockout artist.

Fury’s first defense of the WBC heavyweight championship he won from Wilder last month has been postponed indefinitely due the coronavirus pandemic. They tentatively were scheduled to fight a third time July 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“It is an interesting one,” Davison told IFL TV. “I don’t think the public will have the same sort of spice and interest as they did the second one because of the demolition job that Tyson done in the second fight, and the way he pinged Wilder in the first fight. But the difference in the two fights was in the first fight, our job was to lower, one of our main jobs was to lower Wilder’s punch count because, you know, when you hit that hard, if you’re letting your hands go you’re dangerous. It’s as simple as that. We actually knew that due to the [Luis] Ortiz second fight and how that played out for Wilder, we knew that he was gonna lower his own punch count going into that second fight [with Fury]. So, he sort of played against himself in that job.

“Now, his only option here is, going into this third fight is he knows he can’t out-box Tyson and he knows he can’t out-man Tyson. So, he’s gonna have to let his hands go. And I think that he’s gonna have a high punch count in this third fight. So, that makes him dangerous. But it’s how long he can keep it up for. So, it’ll be interesting to see how Tyson goes about that fight in the matter early on, if Wilder comes out with a high punch count again, like he did in the first fight. Because as long as he’s letting his hands go, he’s dangerous. I just believe that for Wilder, you know, we know he’s only got one option of winning the fight, whereas Tyson can do it in a number of ways. So, you know, I believe Tyson will do a good job on him again. But it’ll just be interesting to see how the two go about the fight, because you saw Tyson make an adaption from the first fight, into the second fight.”

England’s Fury floored Wilder twice – once apiece in the third and fifth rounds – in their rematch February 22 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The action became so one-sided by the seventh round, Wilder’s assistant trainer, Mark Breland, threw in the towel.

Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) had knocked down Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) twice in their first fight, once in the ninth round and again in the 12th round. That 12-rounder resulted in a controversial split draw in December 2018 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“Tyson said all the time, since that 12th round,” Davison recalled, “straight after the fight and all the next training camps, every time I spoke to him Tyson was adamant that was the way he wanted to go about the [second] fight. And he kept saying to me, ‘I know I took something away from him. I know I took something away from him.’ And he proved to be right. You know, he did take something away from Wilder. Sometimes as the fighter in there, you can feel something that the trainer can’t feel effectively, while being in there. And I just feel that he felt that he took something away from Wilder. And it looked that way going into the second fight.

“Now, Tyson made an adaption there, and it will be for Wilder to make an adaption. But there’s only so many adaptions Wilder can make. You know, the main adaption he’ll be able to make in a short space of time is to go back to a higher punch count. But how long can he keep that up for? So, it’s definitely an interesting one. But definitely, I see Tyson doing another number on him – whether he does it by out-boxing him early and then setting about later on, after a few rounds, or whether he goes straight back out there and sticks it straight back on Wilder again. You know, we’ll be waiting to see.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.