'King' Fury ready for a trilogy

Briton proves 'pillow fists' remarks wrong but will grant battered Wilder chance for revenge

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Britain's Tyson Fury delivered a dominant performance in his heavyweight championship bout with Deontay Wilder on Saturday.
Tyson Fury landing a right to the face of Deontay Wilder during their heavyweight title bout in Las Vegas. The Briton landed 82 of 267 punches as his rival's corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.
Tyson Fury landing a right to the face of Deontay Wilder during their heavyweight title bout in Las Vegas. The Briton landed 82 of 267 punches as his rival's corner threw in the towel in the seventh round. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Tyson Fury landing a right to the face of Deontay Wilder during their heavyweight title bout in Las Vegas. The Briton (above) landed 82 of 267 punches as his rival's corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.
Tyson Fury landing a right to the face of Deontay Wilder during their heavyweight title bout in Las Vegas. The Briton (above) landed 82 of 267 punches as his rival's corner threw in the towel in the seventh round. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LAS VEGAS • In the lead-up to the rematch of their epic heavyweight title fight on Saturday night, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury each promised to win by knockout.

The former because he is widely considered not only the hardest puncher in the division, but arguably in history, with a 95.3 KO percentage. The latter because he said he needed a new approach after their contentious draw in the first fight.

Only Fury delivered on that pledge, delivering the definitive outcome their first encounter in December 2018 failed to produce.

The Gypsy King from England, whose career appeared finished when he left the sport for more than two years amid public battles with addiction and mental illness before coming back in 2018, made good on his promise, battering his American opponent over six brutal rounds.

Wilder, 34, who was bleeding from the ear and whose legs appeared to have gone, suffered just his second and third career knockdowns as Fury kept pounding him until his corner threw in the towel early in the seventh.

In a clinical demonstration of his dominance, he landed 82 of 267 punches (30.7 per cent), compared to only 34 of 141 for the Bronze Bomber (24.1 per cent), according to Compubox's punch statistics.

With the technical knockout win, the 31-year-old Briton became the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion and made an emphatic statement in his case to be considered the world's best heavyweight boxer.

Fury, who held four heavyweight titles, excluding the WBC title, before his hiatus, signalled his intention to rule the division.

"The king has returned," he said during an interview in the ring before grabbing the microphone to lead the crowd in singing Don McLean's American Pie.

At his post-match press conference, Fury revealed that there was a third-fight clause in their contract and he was "almost sure" he would face Wilder again rather than Anthony Joshua, who holds the World Boxing Association (Super), International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Organisation belts.

That all-British four-belt unification fight that would crown an undisputed heavyweight champion for the first time since Lennox Lewis two decades ago would be a sure-fire mega-money spinning event.

However, Fury is willing to give Wilder another rematch, saying: "The spoils of war have just happened. I need to enjoy this victory and Deontay will need time to recover from the fight, but I'm almost sure that he will take a rematch because he's a dynamite puncher.

"At any time, he can take somebody out. With that danger, then you're always in a fight. I'm pretty sure we'll run it back again if he wants to.

"But if he doesn't want to, these are my promoters and whatever they want to do, I'm happy with. Whoever's next will get the same treatment, that's for sure.

"What I did didn't work last time. A draw is a failure in my book because I didn't win. I wanted a KO and the only way I could guarantee a win was by knockout.

"I'm my own worst critic. I know I can do better. I've only just started with this style (fighting on the inside). It takes years to perfect, but I'm a quick learner, don't forget.

"He (Wilder) said I can't punch. He said I have two pillow fists, so not bad for an old fat guy, who can't punch.

"I'm supposed to be an old feather duster who couldn't crack eggs. My record now is 30 wins with 29 KOs. Not bad and I've never looked for the knockout.

"With this technique, we can knock out anybody. Tonight in there, I felt like a beast."

The knockout loss was Wilder's first defeat in 44 fights, while his opponent improved his record to 30-0-1, with both men earning the same guaranteed US$25 million (S$35 million) purse and the potential for more based on the pay-per-view receipts.

NY TIMES, THE GUARDIAN

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 24, 2020, with the headline 'King' Fury ready for a trilogy. Subscribe