The hype surrounding Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wester III was true to form. Fury and Wilder demonstrated what a heavyweight champion bout should look like in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Fury kept his heavyweight titles and his undefeated (31-0-1) record. This epic fight was intense from the beginning, with five knockdowns between the heavyweights.
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Wilder's refusal to give up and remain down throughout the fight will be what we remember most about this fight. Wilder was able not only to knock Fury out once, but twice in round 4.
Wilder put on a great Round 4. However, after that, it seemed like the girth and fury had started to wear down Deontay. Wilder seemed to be trying to keep the fight alive every minute of the fifth round.
It was great to see Wilder early on as the aggressor, especially in round one, when he used his left jab much more effectively than in any of their previous fights. Wilder's career has seen him become a puncher and not a boxer. However, if Wilder catches Fury with his right, the lights could go out quickly.
If you have two fighters with similar abilities and attributes, the technically sound one will win. The puncher has less to fall back on a technically sound boxer than the one who is more technically sound. They have more tools. This is not a knock, it's just how we have seen things play out. It doesn't matter if people talk about heavy gloves or heavy costumes. The better boxer won.
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The fight was split in the first four rounds. Wilder won the fifth round. Fury took control of the bout from the sixth round. Fury seemed to gain a second wind halfway through the fight, using his weight advantage to lean onto Wilder, fatiguing and hitting him with some bone crushing blows. Wilder refused to go down. Wilder appeared to be able to get up from 7-11. Wilder was alert enough to continue to respond to the questions of the ref every time he was asked.
Russell Mora, the referee, has been criticized for not slow-counting Fury after Wilder's fourth round knockdown. However, I don't think Fury was able to stay down for the full 10-count on either of these knockdowns.
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This fight is an instant classic. It seems like it, at the very least. A brawl such as this is what the heavyweight world needs from its top two rivals, since the heavyweight division has been pushed to the side by the lower weight classes for the past 20+ years. Boxing may follow up this brawl with another great heavyweight bout.
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Although I don't expect anything to happen, it is possible.
