Fury KOs Wilder in the 11th in a Brutal Slugfest

LAS VEGAS — There was an audible groan when mediator Daniel Weinstein ruled that Tyson Fury must honor his rematch clause with Deontay Wilder, thereby sinking Fury’s Aug. 14, 2021 match in Saudi Arabia with Anthony Joshua.

The Gypsy King manhandled Wilder so thoroughly in their second meeting that a rematch seemed superfluous. Fury vs. Joshua was the sexy fight, a far more delicious pairing.

Well, if a Fury-Joshua fight had come to pass it almost certainly would not have provided as much excitement as Fury-Wilder III. There wasn’t much science on display in their contest tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but the third fight of their memorable trilogy will likely go down in history as an ALL-TIME CLASSIC. A truly great fight has momentum shifts and there were plenty before the Gypsy King turned out the lights with a brutal 11^th round knockout.

There were five knockdowns in all. Fury put Wilder on the canvas in the third round with a cuffing right hand, but Wilder returned the favor in spades in the next stanza, putting the Gypsy King on the canvas twice. It looked as if Fury wouldn’t last out the round.

As the fight progressed, each man took turns landing the harder punches. There was also a lot of hugging. Russell Mora was not a popular choice to referee the fight – Mora has had his issues – but he did a good job tonight.

The doctor talked with Wilder after the eighth round, much to the vexation of the crowd which feared a premature stoppage. From that point, it was clear that Wilder was starting to gas out, but just as soon as it appeared that his tank was empty, he reached down deep and unloaded a big combination. This was true in the 10^th when Fury scored his second knockdown only to find Wilder responding with a flurry in the final seconds. But one could sense that the end was near for the Bronze Bomber.

In round 11, Fury decked Wilder with a chopping right hand. He went down hard, face first, and Mora immediately waived it off. The official time was 1:10.

The Gypsy King was ahead by 2, 3, and 4 points heading into the 11^th. He was credited with landing 51 more power punches. The announced attendance was 15,820.

Tyson Fury remains undefeated (32-0-1, 21 KOs) and is clearly the top dog in the division, notwithstanding the fact Oleksandr Usyk owns three pieces of the world heavyweight title. Deontay Wilder may be the second-best heavyweight out there. Take away his two losses to Tyson Fury and Wilder’s record would read 42-0-1 (41 KOs).

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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