During a recent Zoom conference call, Deontay Wilder spoke about his third fight with Ring/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury saying that he’s a “reinvented Deontay Wilder” and that his previous loss to Fury will be avenged “in blood.”

The last time Fury (30-0-1, 21 knockouts) and Wilder were in the ring together, Fury stopped Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) at 1:39 of the seventh round. It’s the last time either fighter fought.

Fury, 33, and Wilder, 35, will meet for a third time on October 9 headlining a FOX Sports/ESPN Pay-Per-View event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Wilder, the former WBC titlist, was much more animated this time, than he was when the fight was originally announced, donning head phones and cancelling out everything around him.

When Wilder was asked about his focus, “I’m super focused,” he said. “I’m more focused now than I’ve ever been in my entire career. This is the second phase of my career. Like I said, I had fun my first album coming, defending the title for five years, ten title defense — I gave my time to people and it was appreciated, but sometimes it wasn’t. At this point in time, we’re serious about everything. I’m super focused, I’m in a happy place, and I’m glad that I’m here.

“They say things happen for a reason and sometimes we don’t understand that reason until we get in a situation or a certain place in life and then we understand. And with me and my team, we understand everything that has happened and we’re just looking forward to it. I’m gonna beat his ass, just as simple as that. Just beat his ass.”

Wilder stressed that this has been the best training camp of his career. He implied that he learned from the loss.

“Sometimes you need certain events to happen in life to bring about a change of things,” he said, “whether that’s getting rid of people out of your life, whether that’s changing up the regiments of training inside the camp, or anything that feels need a change. We’ve had no distractions and I’m just in a happy state mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This is the best camp I’ve had all the way around and this is the first time where I had all my guys with me at all times.

“You’re looking at a rejuvenated Deontay Wilder, reinvented Deontay Wilder. The old Deontay Wilder is no longer there. It’s something that I can’t explain to you but will show you October 9th.”

Wilder also promised to wear something a little lighter during his ring walk. After the TKO loss in February 2020, Wilder attributed a part of the setback to the 45-pound suit of armor he wore into the ring that night, claiming that it zapped some energy from him.

“All of my fights have – well, since I became champion, you know, it’s nobody come out with a better dress, better uniform than I,” Wilder said. “And we’re gonna continue to continue with that. You know, and we’ll just have to see what I put on. It’s gonna be something special. It’s gonna be something that I dedicate this, you know, to my people, my tribe. You know, so look forward to seeing it.”

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito.

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