Fury-Wilder III is the 2021 TSS Fight of the Year

Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder so thoroughly in their second encounter that a third meeting seemed superfluous. An arbitrator, retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, made it happen by ruling that Fury was duty-bound to honor the rematch clause inserted in the contract for Wilder-Fury II before proceeding to a match with Anthony Joshua.

The fight failed to materialize on the original date, July 24, when Fury contracted Covid. It finally came to fruition on Oct. 9. The venue was the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Fury-Wilder III didn’t pull in the quite the on-site revenue as their second meeting in March of 2020, which set a new benchmark for a heavyweight fight in Las Vegas, but the attendance, 15,820, was yet remarkable considering the long gap between the rematch and the trilogy fight, not to mention the pandemic which dissuaded many Brits from flying over. And years from now, many more people will profess to have been there as Fury-Wilder III was an instant classic.

Rounds 3, 4, and 5, in particular, were breathtaking because of the wild momentum swings.

In round three, the Gypsy King put Wilder on the canvas with a three-punch combination climaxed by a big right hand. Wilder made it to his feet but in a dazed condition and when he ate another big right hand it seemed doubtful that he would make it to the bell.

In round four, Wilder came out of his corner on shaky legs, but before the round was over, he had Fury on the canvas twice. Wilder was now in the lead and a popular wager, under-7 ½ rounds, was seemingly a lead-pipe cinch. But hold the phone.

The fifth round was fairly close, but Fury with his renowned powers of recuperation shifted the momentum back in his favor simply by looking like the fresher man when the round ended.

It was all downhill for Wilder from this point, but yet the tension was still thick because the Bronze Bomber owned the equalizer, a lethal right hand that had produced 39 knockouts in his first 40 fights.

British boxing writer Andrew Richardson, writing for SB Nation, noted that it was Wilder’s will to win that made that fight so great. He was completely exhausted before he was knocked down for the second time in round 10, but yet he still found a way to unleash a combination in the final seconds of the penultimate round that clearly hurt the Gypsy King. But Wilder had shot his bolt and the fight ended in the next frame when Fury put him down hard with a brutal right hand. Much-maligned referee Russell Mora, who like the combatants rose to the occasion in his biggest assignment, waived the bout off without a count. The official time was 1:10 of round 11.

Among heavyweight trilogies, the three Fury-Wilder fights may never rank right up there with Ali-Frazier, arguably the greatest trilogy in any sport, but it may have eclipsed the memorable Bowe-Holyfield trilogy and that’s high praise.

“Boxing doesn’t get any better,” said the aforementioned Richardson. Amen to that. Thank you to the three men that shared the ring on Oct. 9 and thanks too to the Hon. Daniel Weinstein. It was a privilege to be there.

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