When all came to pass it wasn’t even close. Tyson ‘Gypsy King’ Fury simply destroyed Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder in Las Vegas on Saturday. It was left to Wilder’s corner to throw in the towel and referee Kenny Bayless to rescue the former WBC champion at 1:39 of the seventh round. Over the course of nearly twenty completed minutes the Alabaman had been dropped twice, staggered around the ring like a drunken cowboy leaving a saloon and had his ear pummelled to a bleeding mess.
The British contender had taken the centre of the ring from the opening bell and systematically picked Wilder apart behind a ramrod jab and follow up sledgehammer counters. All from a man that Wilder referred to as having “pillows for fists”. The only successes the American had were a few solid counters and the deduction of a point from Fury in round five for clinching. Dubious to say the least.
So where does this take us ? Fury 30-0-1 (21 KO’s) now holds the WBC world heavyweight title, is still the ‘lineal’ champion (being the man, who beat the man…by virtue of his 2015 victory over Wladimir Klitschko) and is recognised by The Ring magazine as the Heavyweight Champion of the World. The latter possibly the highest honour in boxing.
The ‘Morecambe monolith’ quite frankly delivered arguably (Lennox Lewis aside) the greatest performance from a British fighter, certainly as a heavyweight, but possibly across all divisions, on the other side of ‘the pond’. The American ex-champ entered the ring with a near perfect 42-0-1 (41 KO) record, having been champion for five years and in his eleventh title defence. His 95% knockout rate and punching prowess was being compared to some of the greatest in heavyweight history. All leading pundits and ex-champions could only see two possible outcomes – a Wilder win by KO or Fury on points. Your website The Undisputed questioned whether Tyson could back it up, and in finally picking a Fury win was circumspect on how early. We suggested Fury had the power to finish the fight early, and that this power was underestimated. Close the show he undoubtedly did.
The rematch clause in the Saturday’s pre-fight contracts has been regularly quoted in the last thirty six hours. That the defeated Wilder has reputedly thirty days to invoke the losers clause for a third fight between them. But, who really wants to see this ? The log should read 2-0 to Fury, and the rematch was so emphatic that it’s going to be a hard sell. In addition, and on the other side is Anthony Joshua the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion – so to the unfamiliar we have TWO heavyweight champions of the world. An uncomfortable and inconvenient truth that needs resolution as soon as possible.
A fight between the two Britons is the defining fight out there, in many ways the only fight. It’s the only one that will deliver what the public crave for – a unified/undisputed champion – the first since Lennox Lewis in 1999. It will take a gargantuan effort contractually and logistically to deliver, but this Messrs Arum, Warren and Hearn will do. The only questions that will remain for sometime are when, where and for how much ? And, maybe one other key question – who will win ?
Bring it on !
The Undisputed 