Tyson Fury stamped down his claim of being the best heavyweight on the planet as he knocked out Deontay Wilder in the 11th round to retain his WBC heavyweight title.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) and Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) met in their highly-anticipated trilogy fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, live on Fox Sports PPV, ESPN PPV and BT Sport Box Office.
“Like the great John Wayne said, iron and steel, baby,” Fury said.
“I give God the glory for the victory. [Wilder] is a tough man. He took some big shots tonight. And I want to say that if it wasn’t for SugarHill, America and Detroit’s own, I wouldn’t have gotten through that fight tonight. He said, ‘get your jab working, big guy, and throw that right hand down the middle. That's how the big dogs do it.’”
It was an incredible battle, with things escalating in round three when Fury sent Wilder to the canvas. Wilder recovered, and then created a frenzy when he dropped Fury twice in round four, but the Gypsy King remained calm as the contest continued.
Wilder tired as the fight entered the halfway stage, and Fury landed more massive shots that knocked him down for a second time in round 10.
Fury then finished the fight in round 11, hitting Wilder with a huge shot, which sent him to the floor for a third time and forcing the referee to step in and wave off the contest.
“It was a great fight tonight, as good as any trilogy in history,” said Fury. “October 9, 2021, will go down in history, I hope. I always said I was the best in the world and he was the second-best. Don’t ever doubt me. When the chips are down, I will always deliver.”