The Trilogy is complete. And what a Trilogy it has been. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have given the sport three unbelievable nights of boxing where they have crossed paths and put everything on the line for our entertainment. I’m sad it’s over, but I’ll be forever grateful it happened.
Credit to both men, they will go down in Heavyweight history and rightly so. When you watch a fight like that you find yourself sitting watching and feeling so appreciative of what you are viewing. Fury Wilder III was big time boxing of the highest order and will be remembered as such; it truly was enthralling from start to finish.
As both men entered the ring there is always that question rattling around your head; how does this fight play out? And in Heavyweight Boxing, this will always be the case. Regardless of the first fight being a draw and Tyson Fury completely demolishing Deontay Wilder in the second fight, anything can happen in a Heavyweight bout and this is why this trilogy was so intriguing. Deontay Wilder is still a ferocious, hard hitting heavyweight and Tyson Fury is a master of Boxing and can adapt to any fighter and any situation. You can never really feel confident as to how a fight of this magnitude goes.
When the first bell rang, Deontay Wilder was aggressive in his pursuit of the body of Tyson Fury where he was landing strong and accurate body shots throughout the first round. It was a very different approach to what we have been used to with Deontay Wilder who regularly focuses on the head rather than the body. But this Round was won by Wilder with his new approach. However, watching Tyson Fury, you just always know that whatever is thrown at him he will always adapt to it. The new approach from Deontay Wilder didn’t faze Tyson Fury in the slightest, and he did catch Wilder with a strong right hook to the head at the end of Round 1.
Round 2 was very much the same with Deontay Wilder continuing to land body shots and attempting to control the range (he did revert back to type with his approach to the head at some stages throughout the 2nd Round). But with any chess match, Tyson Fury will always have a trick up his sleeve. And this was seen emphatically in Round 3 when Fury landed a strong right hand on the top of Deontay Wilders head sending him to the canvas. One thing that is evident with Deontay Wilder is the fact that when he’s hit he seems to take so long to recover and looks as though he is out on his feet. But Round 4, Deontay Wilder came back fighting…
When Deontay Wilder hits you, you stay hit. That has been the case with 42 of his previous opponents. And this looked to be the case when he crashed a thunderous straight right hand onto the top of Tyson Furys head in the 4th Round which looked as though it sent shockwaves through Furys whole body. And that shot wasn’t even fully cocked, but up close, which goes to show the sheer power Deontay Wilder still possesses. The UK fans held their breath. The shock was seen on Tyson Furys face where he managed to pull himself up off the canvas to continue with the fourth round. With 20 seconds remaining, Fury was to see the canvas again after a barrage of punches and exchanges were deployed between the two men with Fury coming out the worse. With Round 4 being a 10-7 round in Wilders favour, was the dream of completing the Trilogy in jeopardy for Tyson Fury?
One massive benefit to Tyson Fury is that he recovers quickly and manages to get himself right back on track after a knockdown. This was seen in the fights with Neven Pajkic, Steve Cunningham and Deontay Wilder I; whenever Fury gets put down, he gets back up. The best thing to happen for Fury was to see the end of Round 4 and recover because Deontay Wilder clearly has the tendency to tire after an onslaught (whether it’s an onslaught he has delivered or an onslaught he is receiving).
Rounds 5-9 displayed Tyson Furys ability to recover well and Deontay Wilders engine and stamina falter as Fury continued his continuous onslaught of heavy, accurate punches. However, the chin and heart of Deontay Wilder should be praised as he continued to fight on, stay on his feet and make the rounds as uncomfortable as possible for Tyson Fury, even when he looked out on his feet. With Wilders mouth wide open, breathing heavy and throwing punches out of what looked like pure desperation, it didn’t seem as though it would be long until Tyson Fury would get the real breakthrough he was so desperate to get and that conclusive knock out. The 10th Round would be the game changer.
With Fury now building a commanding lead on the scorecards and looking completely recovered, the confidence in the Gypsy King was clear to see; he wanted the knockout. With Wilders face bruised and bloody, Tyson Fury managed to crash a thudding right hand around Wilders head which sent his left leg flying from underneath him and hitting the canvas for a second time – did Fury have knockout in sight? It looked likely, but Deontay Wilder weathered the storm and even landed strong right hooks of his own which troubled Fury just as the bell rang. Would we be heading to the Judges scorecards?
Coming out for the 11th Round Deontay Wilder looked exhausted. Tyson Fury looked close at times throughout the fight to ending it, but still hadn’t got Wilder out of there. The 11th Round would be the decisive and emphatic finish that this Trilogy deserved. After using his sheer size and weight to his advantage throughout the fight, Tyson Fury put his foot on the gas to end the fight inside the distance. After a barrage of clubbing right hooks and uppercuts, Tyson Fury got Deontay Wilder into the corner and onto the ropes. After one last ferocious right uppercut which left Deontay Wilder dazed and rocked, Fury unleashed a dazzling right hook to Deontay Wilders temple which laid him out once and for all. Tyson Fury wheeled away to the corner in celebration whilst referee Russell Mora waved the fight off. It was an extraordinary end to an extraordinary fight; it was a pleasure to watch.
Credit to Deontay Wilder; he is an incredibly strong and determined heavyweight who has so much left to offer in the sport of boxing. There aren’t many fighters who get back up after the punishment he took and he showed his heart in this fight. The knockout may give him some form of consolation in a strange way, knowing that he went out on his shield, on his terms and without the controversy of a towel being thrown. It was so decisive.
Tyson Fury has now shown that this era is the era of the Gypsy King and he is the man to beat if you want to be crowned the best heavyweight on the planet. He is just that good. He has shown heart, adaptability, courage, ring IQ and power – everything that makes an outstanding World Champion. For me, he now has a seat at the table of the greatest heavyweights of all time. If he goes on to beat Dillian Whyte, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk then he really needs to be considered as one of the greatest heavyweights ever. He will have done the lot.
But what’s next for both men? It looks likely that if Dillian Whyte is successful in his bout against Otto Wallin he will be made Mandatory Challenger for Furys WBC World Title, and what a huge fight that is. The build up, the views, the ticket sales. That fight is a Wembley fight without question. And with Anthony Joshua triggering the rematch clause for Oleksandr Usyk, it looks as though there is no possibility of an Undisputed fight between Fury & Usyk; something which the WBC had mentioned.
For Deontay Wilder, he needs to rest and recover properly. Have time away from the sport and really want to get back in the gym when he misses it. Some opinions have included Deontay Wilder should retire after such an enthralling fight. But Deontay Wilder has only two defeats on his record (although I do believe Fury Vs Wilder I was a defeat, not a draw), which is the exact same as Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua. Losses do not define you wholly as a fighter. Of course your record plays it’s role, but it’s the fights you’re in and how you continue to fight the big fights after such defeats – that’s the true mark of a fighter. Getting back up when nobody else thinks you should. Deontay Wilder Vs Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder Vs Dillian Whyte are still massive heavyweight fights. I really hope this isn’t the last we have seen of the Bronze Bomber.
‘The only thing we truly own in this life is moments in time’ – Tyson Fury.
And I for one will remember this fight and it’s moment in time for a very, very long time to come.
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