Tyson Fury defeats Deontay Wilder in 11th round KO to retain WBC heavyweight championship
The Gypsy King, Tyson Fury, has retained his heavyweight crown with an 11th-round knockout of Deontay Wilder before a massive crowd of 15,820 at the T-Mobile Arena.
Arguably the biggest fight of 2021, took place on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The trilogy bout initially scheduled for last July before Fury tested positive for COVID-19 completed one of the biggest rivalries ever seen in the sport.
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 fight hand to Deontay Wilder’s temple, sending his longtime rival to the canvas for good, and successfully defending his World Boxing Council world heavyweight championship.
“I’m the best fighter in the world and he’s the second best,” says Fury after the fight, which contained five knockdowns in total (and nine overall in the trilogy).
He adds: “I was hurt, he’s a tough man … it was a great fight tonight, worthy of the best trilogies. I pray for (Wilder), so God will soften his heart.”
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The first fight took place on December 1, 2018, at the Staples Center, Los Angeles California with undefeated defending WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder facing off against undefeated challenger and former WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
A crowd of over 17,000 watched on as both fighters concluded 12 rounds with a draw being declared which saw Wilder retain his WBC belt.
Two years on, the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas hosted 2020’s rematch which registered an impressive 1.2 million pay-per-view purchases alone in the United States.
If controversy overshadowed the first fight, there was no debate in Nevada as the bout was stopped in the seventh round after Fury had previous, landed Wilder on the canvas on a number of occasions. Fury was also leading with all judges when the fight was stopped and Fury was declared winner in a round seven knock out.
Fury retained his WBC championship title and finished the three-bout series with two wins and a draw and is still yet to taste defeat boasting an impressive career record of thirty two wins, one draw and zero losses and thus remains undefeated since his boxing breakthrough in 2008 when he overcame Hungarian fighter Bela Gyöngyösi in Nottingham.
