“Those 10 rounds are like three or four knockouts.”
Promoter Frank Warren wanted to see Tyson Fury get the job done early in his second fight back since his time away from the ring but that was never Fury’s plan.
With the knowledge that his next outing would be for the WBC heavyweight title in the United States, Fury was eager to make Saturday night’s clash against Francesco Pianeta last as long as possible.
The undefeated Brit had told Warren that this weekend’s fight was going to go differently than his comeback victory over Sefer Seferi, who quit on his stool after four rounds of action in Manchester in June.
After Warren instructed his marquee fighter to take no chances and get Pianeta out as soon as possible, Fury revealed his plans.
“That is 10 rounds in the bank,” Warren said at the post-fight press conference. “That is what he needed.
“If he blasted the guy out in a couple of rounds, of course that’s what everyone wants to see – guys knocking each other out and so forth.
“But that is absolute gold dust for him. Going into the next fight, that’s what he needed.
“We talked about it before the fight. I said to him: ‘No messing around, just try to get him out of there if you can.’ And Tyson said that he needed the rounds and that’s exactly right.”
Fury won every round against his opponent before squaring off with Wilder in a rain-drenched Windsor Park.
The date and location for the WBC decider is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, with Las Vegas in either November or December the most likely outcome.
Fury said: “Wilder congratulated me afterwards and said it was a great performance. I showed good ability to slip and slide punches, not get hit much, go 10 rounds at a good pace, be awkward and slippy and slidey.
“I could have stood there and traded with him and blasted him but I didn’t need a first-round knockout. I needed rounds and that was always the plan.”
