Wilder-Fury Ends in Controversial Draw
Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury ended up being an entertaining WBC Title fight to remember. But the fight goes to the scorecard, and it ends in a shocking split draw.
Fury started with the mind games right away from the opening bell, playing a defensive battle by making Wilder miss a lot, with both men stunning one another late. Fury, after cracking the WBC champion, continued with his ducking and dodging in the second round before Wilder cracked him with a shot on the chin right before the bell.
The next two rounds were fairly quiet in nature — though Wilder busted Fury’s nose open late in the fourth. Fury counter-punched his way through the fifth round, though most of the shots he threw upstairs were blocked by Wilder. But Fury managed to come through in the sixth, when his combinations caused some swelling around Wilder’s left eye.
Wilder managed to turn things up and fire back in the seventh round, as a couple of flurries forced Fury’s back to the ropes and would’ve put him in more danger if not for clinching. Fury may have taken the eighth with a combination that ended in two strong rights that stunned Wilder, but the champion landed a combination of overhands in the ninth that dropped the challenger, with Fury getting up at the count of nine.
Unfortunately for Wilder, he appeared to gas himself out going for the finish that he didn’t get after the knockdown. Fury took advantage of that in the 10th, landing several hard shots on the button, though Wilder appeared to take them well.
#WilderFury championship round! pic.twitter.com/DOxiMYHZ5H
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 2, 2018
Wilder came through on offense once more in the championship rounds, with a strong right hand knocking down Fury, who was a split second away from being counted out. Wilder then went on the chase, and the referee appeared to be close to stopping the fight, but Fury fired back in the final minute of the fight.
.@BronzeBomber knocks down Fury and he’s back up! #WilderFury pic.twitter.com/XRdc6FdxYL
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 2, 2018
One judge scored the bout in Wilder’s favor 115-111, while the second judge scored the bout 114-110 for Fury, and the final judge scored the fight 113-113.
Despite there being no undisputed winner, both men gave proper respect following the fight, considering themselves the two best heavyweights in the world while also taunting Antony Joshua. A rematch is considered, but it is not certain it will be each man’s next fight.
With scores of 115-111 for @BronzeBomber, 114-110 for @Tyson_Fury and 113-113 – #WilderFury is a draw pic.twitter.com/5BU3YteW49
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 2, 2018
Two great champions. #WilderFury pic.twitter.com/SXsTiJfPzo
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 2, 2018
The Staples Center card also featured Jarrett Hurd retaining the IBF/WBA Super Welterweight Titles with a fourth-round knockout of Jason Welborn. Welborn managed to get on the inside of Hurd, rocking him throughout the first three rounds of the bout. But in the fourth, when things looked bleak, Hurd turned things up, firing away with a flurry that dropped Welborn, who was unable to beat the count.
There was one title change in a special match held in Montreal prior to the pay-per-view’s start, as Oleksandr Gvozdyk stopped Adonis Stevenson in the 11th round to become the new WBC light heavyweight champion.
The card also saw Luis Ortiz score an 11th-round knockout of Travis Kauffman and Joe Joyce get a first-round knockout win over Joe Hanks.
WBC Heavyweight Championship: (c.) Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury goes to a split draw (115-111, 110-114, 113-113)
IBF/WBA Super Welterweight Championship: (c.) Jarrett Hurd def. Jason Welborn via KO (Rd. 4, 1:55)
Luis Ortiz def. Travis Kauffman via KO (Rd. 10, 1:58)
Joe Joyce def. Joe Hanks via KO (Rd. 1, 2:25)
WBC Light Heavyweight Championship: Oleksandr Gvozdyk def. (c.) Adonis Stevenson via KO in Round 11