posted February 23, 2020 at 03:59 pm
By Ponciano “John” Melo Jr.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Tyson Fury dealt Deontay Wilder’s first professional defeat in a stunning fashion after a seventh-round stoppage to take away the WBC heavyweight title inside the jam-packed MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Referee Kenny Bayless waved the fight off after Wilder’s corner threw the towel gesturing the surrender after getting enough of the beating the former undefeated champ has been taking.
“The king has returned,” said Fury during the postfight interview after giving respect to Wilder.
He then turned the boxing ring into a concert, taking the microphone while singing a song that even his new promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank joined.
Fury knocked Wilder twice, in the third and fifth rounds, en route to tarnishing the former champ’s unbeaten slate.
A clean right hand by Fury to the ear sent Wilder to the canvass in the third round that turned out to be the defining moment of the fight.
Wilder then got back up despite the continuous bleeding on his right ear and the bloodied lips but with unsteady feet.
The jab game of Fury took Wilder out of his game and a body shot put Wilder back on the ground in the fifth.
During the sixth round, Fury was seen gesturing to lick the blood coming out of Wilder’s ear while referee Bayless was separating them.
In the seventh, Fury came raging back at Wilder on the corner by connecting combinations forcing Wilder’s camp to throw the towel.
The now-former heavyweight champ tried to argue the decision but the referee waved the fight off.
During the post-fight interview, Wilder told that they should’ve let him fight but accepted the defeat and vowed to become stronger.
Fury threw 160 punches compared to only 55 by Wilder. The British connected 58 of them while Wilder only landed 18 punches.
The win also put an end to their controversial split draw in 2018. Fury remained clean with his 30 wins, 21 knockouts, and one draw while Wilder failed to defend his WBC belt for the 11th time as he suffered his first defeat after 44 fights (42-41-1-1).