Tyson Fury promised to end Deontay Wilder’s unbeaten record without the need of the judges’ scorecards and delivered.
Even though it wasn’t in the second round as he initially predicted, he did manage to do the unthinkable and stopped Wilder in the seventh round, capturing the WBC Heavyweight Championship. The fight headlined a pay-per-view that was handled by both ESPN and FOX, a rarity in the sport, that was one of the most highly-anticipated rematches in years.
Fury, the more technically gifted boxer, was the aggressor from the very beginning, landing left jabs and punishing Wilder while avoiding most of Wilder’s biggest punches. Wilder was able to land a couple of solid right hands, but Fury was by far the better puncher.
In the third round, Fury scored a knockdown on Wilder and Wilder never recovered. Wilder struggled to recover and didn’t do anything to threaten Fury for the remainder of the fight. Blood was pouring out of Wilder’s left ear and mouth and looked worse for wear.
Wilder couldn’t get anything going in the next few rounds. Fury landed various body punches and scored a second knockdown in the fifth round, hurting the WBC champion. A bizarre sequence occurred in the sixth round where Fury licked Wilder and tasted blood during clinch. Like a shark in the open sea, Fury tasted blood and went to finish the job. Fury pressured Wilder into the corner in the seventh round and landed a flurry of punches, forcing Wilder’s referee to throw in the towel and end the fight.
Fury is now back on top holding a world title from one of the four major sanctioning bodies in boxing. Fury once held the WBA, WBO and IBF titles after beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, but now has captured every major heavyweight title there is to win in this modern era for the sport.
Back in 2018, the two heavyweight stars delivered an entertaining title fight that saw Wilder drop Fury twice, including in the 12th round, en route to a draw. A rematch was expected, but it took longer than many believed as Fury chose to sign with Top Rank and ESPN in order to increase his popularity in the United States before electing to fight Wilder again.
For full results of the entire card, click here and for the post-show podcast, click here.
