Tyson Fury Defeated Deontay Wilder by TKO in 7th Round of Fight

Introduction

On Saturday, February 22nd, 2020 Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fought in the highly anticipated rematch from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. These two heavyweights faced each other for the first time on the first of December, 2018 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and that was one hell of a boxing match.

Fury vs. Wilder I

Their first encounter was a very close and well played fight on both sides of the ring. The first three rounds consisted of the two fighters that are each incredibly large in size and stature just feeling each other out. During the fourth round, Wilder managed to bloody Fury’s nose through the strategic utilization of strong jabs, but he was unable to follow up on any further attacks that round.

In the sixth round, Fury decided to switch his fighting stance to southpaw which proved mildly successful as he was able to get Wilder on the ropes, but he was cautious not to catch a powerful right hand from his opponent. The seventh began with them trading jabs until Fury was able to gain the upper hand by landing a stiff right handed counter and then tie up Wilder before he could retaliate.

In the ninth round Wilder went on the attack as he connected first with a quick left hook followed by a tough overhand right dropping Fury to the mat, but he was able to survive the count as he got up in time. The next couple rounds were won by Fury as Wilder was fatigued trying to end the fight in the ninth.

The twelfth and final round consisted of Wilder landing a nice right left combination to knock down Fury for the second time during this fight. Most people thought this would be the end of the “Gypsy King.” Miraculously he was able to beat the count once again making it back to his feet as the match ended up going the distance.

Wilder thought his 2 knock downs would be enough to win the fight while Fury felt he won the majority of the rounds, and he should win the heavyweight title. The boxing match was decided by the judges to be a draw, and this controversial call greatly increased the hype leading up to the highly anticipated rematch.

Fury vs. Wilder II

While the undercard fights were taking place in the ring both boxers were featured in their locker rooms with their crew, and there couldn’t have been a bigger contrast in the prefight behavior of these two undefeated opponents. Wilder was shown pacing back and forth looking extremely serious as Fury was shown lounging on a leather couch laughing, joking around, and having a good time.

They both had quite the entrance to the ring. Fury was the first to appear on a throne in his crown and robe made for royalty as he was carried up to the ring by women like he was Cleopatra. Wilder followed him out dressed in a custom made suit of black armor with skulls on his shoulders, a black mask outlining his eyes in red, and an all black crown. This proved to be a huge mistake as he later revealed that the suit of armor weighed over forty pounds making his entrance grueling for it was a long walk with stairs and everything.

Prior to the heavyweight title fight, Fury had explained his plan of attack for the contest by announcing, "We didn't mind revealing the game plan. We had nothing to hide. I said what I was going to do -- run across the ring, put him on the back foot and unload big shots on him. I've always been a slick master boxer -- jab, move, get out of the way of everything. When I made the decision to move from [my previous trainer] Ben Davison, who'd done a fantastic job, by the way, I did it for a reason. Everybody was like, 'This is a bad move, a really bad move.' But it worked out for the best."

His new trainer, Sugar Hill Steward, trained the “Gypsy King” in the Kronk Gym located in Detroit, Michigan. Steward emphasized not fighting defensively and going on the attack early and often. This aggressive style was much different from Fury’s previous approach of stick and move in attempt to avoid getting hit, but it paid off big time throughout this boxing match.

The heavyweight battle began with Fury wasting no time as he rushed the champ right from opening bell. He peppered Wilder with flurries of jabs as well as power punches which really threw off his opponent who was used to being the aggressor in the past. Tyson obviously dominated the early rounds of the fight, and he did not hold back anything.

The first major signs of trouble occurred in the third round when Wilder endured a damaging blow to his ear dropping him to the mat as blood began trickling out of his ear. This strike was devastating as punches directly to the ear throw off one’s equilibrium and often highly disorient the boxer for the remainder of the match. This was apparently the case as Wilder never seemed to recover and regain his balance from that knock down while his ear continued to bleed profusely for the rest of this fight.

Then in the fifth round the “Bronze Bomber” was knocked down once again after suffering a strong body shot from Fury. He was able to get back to his feet beating the ten count by the referee, but this was most likely his breaking point as he struggled to maintain a solid fighting stance after that. Wilder struggled and showed a lot of heart to keep trying to move forward, but he was unable to muster the strength to throw his greatly feared vaunted right hand.

During the seventh round Deontay’s co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel which abruptly ended the fight that was heavily dominated by Fury. Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas disagreed with the decision for Breland to stop the boxing match conceding the win and heavyweight title to Tyson Fury. Although Wilder was extremely upset his corner stopped the fight as he wants to go out on his shield, it was in the best interest of the fighter for his people to protect him from himself. Boxers in his situation have enormous amounts of pride, but he could have been seriously injured or worse as he was taking a lot of damage and was progressively finding himself unable to protect himself in the ring.

Fury vs. Wilder III

While Fury retains his lineal heavyweight title belt as well as taking the WBC heavyweight title belt from Wilder their contract contains a rematch clause allowing Deontay to call for a third fight between these two boxers. He has 30 days to exercise this option of their deal, and as of now Wilder’s camp seems to be in favor of the rematch setting up a third fight with Fury. As this last fight called for a 50 / 50 split of the purse, the next match would be divided 60 / 40 in favor of Fury. It would be interesting to observe the odds of this fight by the sports betting industry.

Most boxing experts as well as myself would really like to see Tyson Fury match up against Anthony Joshua next in a best of the British four belt unification fight that would crown an undisputed world heavyweight champion for the first time in two decades. Although this is what the majority of boxing fans want there will most likely be a rematch of Fury vs. Wilder battle royale prior to that. Fury is a much better boxer than Wilder, and he should win the third contest easily.

Media Statements

"A big shoutout to Deontay Wilder," Fury stated. "He came here tonight and he manned up, and he really did show the heart of a champion."

"I'm doing good. Things like this happen," says Wilder. "The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel and I was ready to go out on my shield. I had a lot of things going on heading into this fight. It is what it is, but I make no excuses tonight. I just wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield."

"Mark threw the towel. I didn't think he should have," Deas explained. "Deontay is the kind of the guy that goes out on his shield. He will tell you straight up -- don't throw the towel in."

"I hit him with a clean right that dropped him, and he got back up," Fury proclaimed. "He is a warrior."

"Even the greatest have lost and came back. That is just part of it," Wilder expressed. "You just take it for what it is. I can make no excuses tonight. I had a lot of complications. But we'll come back stronger next time around. This is what big-time boxing is all about -- the best must fight the best. I appreciate all the fans that came out and supported the show, and I hope that everyone gets home safely."

"Fury stuck to the game plan," says Top Rank chairman Bob Arum who is Fury's co-promoter. "We told everyone what the game plan was. You can listen to all the interviews I did. Next time, people will listen to me."

"I'm a warrior. He had a great performance, and we will be back stronger," Wilder stated.

"He will be back," Fury explained. "He will be champion again. But I will say, the king has returned to the top of the throne."

"We're definitely going to exercise it," Wilder proclaimed. "We're looking forward to it. I'm a warrior and a true champion, and I fight like that every bit of the way. We're definitely going on with it. That's for sure. By the summertime."

"There were a lot of things that went wrong leading up to the fight, in the last minutes before the fight, but I accept full responsibility," Wilder expressed. "I paid a severe price because my legs were how they were because of my uniform. My uniform was way too heavy. It was 40-plus pounds. We had it on 10 or 15 minutes before we even walked out and then put the helmet on. That was extra weight, then the ring walk, then going up the stairs. It was like a real workout for my legs. When I took it off, I knew immediately that game has changed."

"I really let the designers freelance with it. It was really their idea," says Wilder. "By the third round, I had no legs. I was completely done. My legs were gone. I had to step into survival mode very early. But you know me -- I'm going out on my shield. I'm a fighter. I'm a warrior. That's what I do."

"Well, I don't know about the legs affecting his performance, but he had to be very, very negligent coming in with that head covering because that choked off his oxygen, and I'm sure that had an effect," Arum stated. "Coach [Jon] Gruden [of the Las Vegas Raiders, who was at the fight] said that: 'What is he, crazy?' And it wasn't covering him for two seconds. That was a long [ring] walk."

"I don't understand certain things that Bayless was doing because he came in the back room [for the final instructions], and he looked me in my eyes, and he said that he would disqualify me or take two points from me if I threw rabbit punches or punched after the break," Wilder expressed. "But I guess that rule only applies to me because my opponent did it all night long. I got knots all on the back of my head down to my neck. [Fury] was elbowing. [Bayless] took a point, but it was too late. At that point, Fury didn't care about that point being taken. I don't know what was going on with Bayless. I'm at a loss for words. I thought he was there to protect us."

"I congratulate Fury on his accomplishment," says Wilder. "I'm very excited for him, and I am not bitter toward no one."

"I've heard a lot of crazy stuff, this doesn't even rank, this is really nothing to me," Steward states. "But if that's what they really believe is true, that's what they believe is true. Everybody has their own truth, so you start thinking about it, hearing about it and you'll start believing certain things. That's the power of the mind, we know that."

"For Mark to do it, I was very heartbroken," Wilder explains. "If I say statements like I want to kill a man [in the ring], then I have to abide by those same principles in the ring of him doing the same thing to me. I'd rather die than go out with someone throwing the towel in.

"He knows these things. It's been premeditated. I've said this for many years. I told all my trainers, no matter how it may look on the outside, no matter how you may love me or have that emotional feeling, don't make an emotional decision, and do not ever throw that towel in because my pride is everything. I understand what it looks like, but when you have power like me, I am never out of a fight, no matter what the circumstances. I'm never out of a fight."

"I still had my thoughts in my mind. I had to lean against the ropes to get support because of my legs. It really hurt me," Wilder goes on to say.

"Mark threw the towel. I didn't think he should have," Deas expresses. "Deontay is the kind of the guy that goes out on his shield. He will tell you straight-up: Don't throw the towel in."

"We haven't decided yet. I'm about ready to go to Africa. Once I come home from Africa, we gonna get a group decision on what changes that should or need to be done as far as my camp is concerned," says Wilder. "No matter what the decision is, I love Mark. The whole team loves Mark dearly. He's been with me from the start. We haven't made any type of decision of what we are going to do.

"I'm in great spirits, man. Things happen, and you can always correct them and move forward. I'm an optimistic person. I can correct things, be optimistic and move forward."

"Let's see how this all plays out, and just know that whatever decision the Wilder camp makes, Top Rank and Tyson Fury will respect it," Arum stated. "There's no hurry. If they say yes, then we're off to the races. But again, I want to be clear about it, that the ball's in their court, and they don't have to decide this right away. They probably should check on his physical condition and so forth."

"We may all decide to punt it to the fall, September or October," Arum proclaims.

"We would certainly pick the right date, even if it wasn't in the window that we have in the contract," says Arum. "We would look for the best possible date in 2020. Even though we have the champion, we have a partner in PBC, and we would consult with them. We've been so collegial. I'm not going to upset the apple cart and shoot off my mouth. I want to hear what PBC has to say before I talk to you about dates and sites. We'll sit and talk and come to an understanding just like we did when we made [Saturday's] fight."

Sources:

“Tyson Fury stops Deontay Wilder as corner throws in towel in 7th”, Dan Rafael, espn.com, February 22, 2020.

“Deontay Wilder confirms third Tyson Fury fight, says 40-pound costume wore down legs”, Dan Rafael, espn.com, February 24, 2020.

“Tyson Fury”, wikipedia.org, February 24, 2020.

“Deontay Wilder”, wikipedia.org, February 24, 2020.

Written by: David Green