Tyson Fury Silences Deontay Wilder In Wild Trilogy

• Retains WBC heavyweight title with an 11-round knockout

Tyson Fury was knocked down twice, but managed to deliver three knockdowns, including one that finished off Deontay Wilder in the 11th round of the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title contest.

Fury’s sensational victory ended the bout and also a trilogy atop the sport. Interestingly, there’s no second-guessing it this time for Wilder. There’s no one else to blame, either. No trainer threw in the towel. The exotic costume he wore wasn’t as heavy. No judge can award him another fight.

For the second time in 20 months, Wilder tasted the devastating blows of Tyson Fury. Just like then, Wilder lost. In this iteration of the contest we’ve seen three times now, Fury (31-0-1) knocked out Wilder (42-2-1) in the 11th round, dropping him with a right hook near the ropes.

Wilder’s body collapsed limp into the center of the ring and the referee mercifully ended the bout. Fury raised his hands in victory as he walked to his corner knowing he had retained the WBC heavyweight belt, which he took from the same man so long ago when to Americans, the coronavirus seemed like a distant problem on the other side of the world.

There are no moral victories, but to Wilder’s credit, he competed in a thrilling fight. Unlike in their previous meeting in February 2020, Wilder forced Fury into the later rounds, zapping his energy and knocking him down twice. He handled the clinch of the larger man well in the beginning, too.

Fury, though, withstood the damage and also knocked Wilder down two times before the knockout. In Round 10, Wilder threw a punch, missed and Fury connected with a counter right, sending Wilder to the canvas.

Though Wilder recovered, it clearly hurt him heading into the next round, leading to the climatic finish. The rubber match’s result should streamline the heavyweight division, which has stalled for months after the pandemic, and the court system complicated this trilogy.

Wilder most likely will compete against the winner of the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua in a title unification bout. Usyk defeated Joshua via unanimous decision last month, and Joshua’s promoter told ESPN that the fighter had exercised his rematch clause.

Fury and Joshua had signed a two-fight deal in March, but an arbitrator ruled that Fury had to complete the trifecta with Wilder. The two also fought to a draw in 2018.

The third fight had been scheduled for July, but Fury and members of his camp tested positive for the coronavirus, postponing the bout until Saturday. In a locker room interview before the fight, Fury said he had contracted the virus twice.

On the night, Wilder stood at 238 pounds, the largest he ever weighed for his professional career. He fired his former trainer, Mark Breland, and hired Malik Scott, a boxer whom he defeated in 2014, to diversify his approach.

In his last clash with Fury, Wilder said the 40-pound costume he wore weakened his legs. On Saturday, he walked with a minimalist (by his standards) robe. None of those factors saved him, though, from experiencing his second loss, and to the same person.

He will always be remembered as the man who defended his heavyweight title 10 times, and as a powerful knockout artist. But Fury left no lingering questions and completed this trilogy in a conclusive fashion.

The 15,820 spectators in T-Mobile Arena believed it. So did those who watched it on pay-per-view. Like it or not, Wilder will be forced to, as well. “I did my best but it wasn’t good enough tonight,” Wilder said.

A giant right hand from a giant of a man provided an unambiguous ending to a wild fight. Midway through Round 11, Tyson Fury landed a right hand to Deontay Wilder’s temple, sending his longtime rival to the canvas for good, and successfully defending his belt.

Until then, Fury, 6-foot-9 and 277 pounds traded heavy punches with the 6-foot-7, 238-pound Wilder from close and long-range. Wilder opened the fight concentrating on Fury’s body and spearing him with jabs. Fury pressed forward, mauling, wrestling, and landing clean rights and lefts.

Fury dropped Wilder in the third. Wilder decked Fury twice in the fourth. Fury knocked Wilder down again midway through Round 10 but finished the round in retreat as Wilder hammered him with big right hands.

Both fighters looked exhausted after setting a pace that seemed too hot to last 12 rounds. Fury ended it in the 11th, with a series of heavy right hands.

“I always said I was the best in the world and he was the second-best,” Fury said in an in-ring interview, adding; “Don’t ever doubt me. When the chips are down, I will always deliver.” – Agency reports