Deontay Wilder has sent a rather ominous and threatening message to his long-term rival Tyson Fury by saying he intends to decapitate him when the two lock horns in Nevada this July.

The latter dethroned the Bronze Bomber of his WBC heavyweight title when the two fought each other in February last year, 14 months after their first fight was called a split draw... somewhat controversially we might add.

Fury went on to win the bout in February of 2020 by knocking out Wilder in the seventh round.

It looked like the Gypsy King would be taking on Anthony Joshua this summer to retain his title and unify the heavyweight division. So much so, a fight was tentatively scheduled for August 14 in Saudi Arabia. However, an arbitration judge ruled that Fury had to fight Wilder by September 15 for a third and final time.

The bout is scheduled to take place on July 24 at the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.

While speaking to 78 Sports TV, Wilder claimed that his mentality is a lot different and he was looking forward to decapitating Fury in every way possible.

The Bronze Bomber said: "Y'all don't wanna miss this one. My mindset is just so different right now. Even right now, I don't even feel like I'm here.

My mentality is – you’ve been contemplating about hurting a person so bad, to the point you wanna disfigure him so his mother wouldn’t even know who he was. When you've had your mind on that, like you wanna decapitate him in every f****** way possible, it's like that premeditated stuff.

"Now that we have a date, like training has been even more intense. Those other camps, although they were intense, we had no guidance, no ETA, we just knew we wanted to stay in shape... Now it means something now. It’s for certain now.

"There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you got to go through me. The hardest puncher in the heavyweight division, probably in history, and I’m going to continue to do that."

Wilder is someone who has never shied away from controversy in the past. For someone who has previously spoken about killing an opponent in the ring, it's not really surprising to hear these comments from the former Olympic bronze medallist.

Read more: Fury vs Wilder 3: Date, Tickets, Live Stream, Betting, Venue, Location Stats And More

There's no doubt that Wilder is eager to avenge last year's defeat against Fury and regain the title which he held for five years. 

Whether he will be able to do so is anyone's guess.