By: William Holmes
Deontay Wilder (40-0) and Tyson Fury (27-0) met for the WBC Heavyweight Title in the main event of tonight’s Showtime Pay Per view (PPV) offering.
The heavyweight division used to be the glamour division in boxing with the biggest pay per view offerings, and this was the biggest heavyweight fight capable of selling pay per views and capturing the public’s attention since Lennox Lewis was a champion.
A silent tribute was given to former President George H.W. Bush before the start of the fight, and that was followed by the national anthems of tonight’s fighters.
Tyson Fury entered the ring first and he was followed by Deontay Wilder to an enthusiastic crowd.
Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing Twitter Account
Round 1:
Wilder throws an early jab to the body. Wilder looks to be in good shape. Wilder with another jab to the body. Wilder misses with two wild shots and Fury clings to Wilder. Fury puts his hands behind his back. Fury backs into a corner and Wilder lands some short shots on Fury. Fury lands two quick jabs on Wilder. Fury puts his hands behind his back again. Wilder hits the shoulder of Fury. Fury lands a body shots and Wilder lands a left hook to the chin of Fury. Fury lands another short jab. Wilder misses with another wild right cross. Wilder misses with another wild right and Fury lands a good combination.
10-9 Fury, but close round
Round 2:
Wilder misses with a jab. Fury is showing some good head movement. Wilder looks a little flustered. Wilder with two more jabs and misses. Wilder lands a right but it was partially blocked. Fury lands a good short right hand to the chin of Wilder. Fury puts his hands in the air and taunts Wilder. Fury lands two good jabs. Good right to the body of Wilder by Fury. Fury’s jab is looking good. Wilder barely misses with a vicious right hand and follows it with a left hook. Wilder barely misses with a right cross again.
Another closer round, 10-9 Fury. 20-18 Fury
Round 3:
Fury lands a quick jab to the body. Fury with another jab to the face of Wilder. Fury lands another jab. Wilder lands a good jab on Fury that gets his attention. Wilder barely misses with a wide left hook. Wilder with a decent hook to the body and Fury answers with a hook upstairs and then two jabs. Fury lands a good straight right hand and then puts his hands behind his back again. Wilder lands a good right hook and Fury then lands a combination to the body. Good short right by Fury and he then ties up with Wilder. Fury with a good right to the body.
10-9 Fury; 30-27 Fury
Round 4:
Wilder has a lot of Vaseline on his face. Wilder with a jab to the body. Wilder barely misses with a straight right hand. Fury lands a short left hook on Wilder. Good jab by Fury, and Wilder answers with a jab of his own. Loud chants of USA in the crowd. Wilder barely misses with a bomb of a right hand. Good jab by Fury. Fury lands a good two punch combination. Fury is still showing good foot movement and lands three good jabs from the outside. Fury looks like he is bleeding from his nose.
10-9 Fury; 40-36 Fury
Round 5:
Wilder is bouncing on his feet. Wilder gets tagged with a quick jab and answers with one of his own. Fury leads with a left hook. Wilder misses with a left hook right cross combination. Fury lands a left hook. Wilder backs Fury into a corner but doesn’t land anything with the opportunity. Wilder lands a jab in the nose of Fury. Fury may be tiring. They both land a jab. Fury with a jab to the body and then head. Fury with a quick little combination. Wilder misses with two bombs and Fury answers with a combination. Wilder just not landing his big shots.
10-9 Fury; 50-45 Fury.
Round 6:
Wilder backing away from Fury. Wilder throws a jab to the body. Wilder misses with two jabs. Wilder misses again with a straight right. Fury with two quick jabs, but Wilder lands a jab of his own. Fury lands a combination and backs Wilder up. Wilder has some swelling by his left eye. Wilder lands a quick jab. Wilder lands a short jab. Wilder gets tagged by two jabs. Fury looks comfortable on the outside. Wilder lands a short right, but then eats two jabs. Wilder gets hit with another jab. Wilder’s jab is effective when he throws it, but he’s not throwing it enough.
10-9 Fury; 60-54 Fury.
Round 7:
Fury is circling away from Wilder’s power hand. Fury lands two jabs followed by a right cross. Fury lands a good right cross. Wilder lands a good jab to the body of Fury. Fury lands a jab to the body and Wilder lands a counter left hook. Fury lands a hard right hand. Fury is throwing a little more power into his shots. Wilder throws some bombs but misses. Wilder lands a good jab. Wilder misses another hard right hand. Fury lands another good hard straight right hand. Wilder lands a good jab on Fury.
10-9 Fury; 70-63 Fury.
Round 8:
Fury lands a quick reaching jab. Fury looks like he wants to press more than earlier rounds. Wilder misses with a straight right hand. Fury lands another good jab on Wilder. Wilder misses with a jab. Fury is tagging Wilder with his jab and dodging out of the way of his power shots. Fury goes to the body of Wilder. Wilder lands a good jab. Wilder sticks two jabs in the body of Fury. Fury with a good right hand followed by a right cross. Tyson Fury is looking very confident.
10-9 Fury; 80-72 Fury.
Round 9:
Fury has Wilder backing away. Fury gets touched with a jab. They both land a jab at the same time. Wilder is still a danger with his power. Wilder barely misses with a two punch combination. Wilder lands a right hook and Fury gets to the mat. Fury gets up before the count of ten. Wilder is looking for bombs and Fury ties up. Wilder barely misses with a wild right hand Fury lands a good right cross. Wilder misses with another bombs. Fury lands a good two punch combination. Wilder throws some bombs but misses. Fury just took a deep breath. Fury puts his arms up and begs Wilder to come forward. Fury lands some short shots inside and makes Wilder miss again. Entertaining round.
10-8 Wilder, 88-82 Fury
Round 10:
Fury looks recovered. Fury lands a good short right hook on Wilder. Fury has Wilder backing up. Fury lands a good two punch combination. Fury lands a good jab. Fury lands a good two punch combination. Good jab by Fury again. Wilder lands a good jab. Fury lands a good two punch combination. Wilder lands a good right hand of his own. Fury lands another good two punch combination. Fury flicks out a quick jab. Wilder misses with a lot of combinations.
10-9 Fury; 98-91 Fury
Round 11:
Wilder lands a jab to the body of Fury. Wilder lands another jab to the body but Fury lands a jab upstairs. Wilder probably needs a knockout to win. Fury lands another good jab on Wilder. Wilder misses with a combination and Fury lands a short hook. Fury lands a good jab followed by a combination to the body. Fury lands another short jab on Wilder. Wilder lands a good left hook on Fury. Wilder landed a good body shot on Fury that appeared to slow him down a little bit. Fury gets tagged by a short uppercut by Wilder. Wilder may have stolen that round.
10-9 Wilder; 107-101 Fury
Round 12:
Both fighters are bouncing on their feet as round starts. Fury looks to have a little more energy than Wilder. Fury barely misses with a jab. Fury lands a good right cross and Wilder answers with a two punch combination but Fury gets back to his feet. Wilder throwing bombs and Fury ties up. Wilder lands another good shot on Fury. Fury backing up. Fury puts his hands behind his back. Fury lands two good shots of his own and then ties up. Fury coming forward and throwing good shots. Fury is coming forward on Wilder. Wilder looks tired. Fury tags Wilder with some shots to the body.
10-8 Wilder. 115-111 Fury by Boxing Insider.
Both fighters embrace each other at the end and exchange words of respect after a highly entertaining bout.
The judges scored the fight 115-111 Wilder, 114-110 Fury, and 113-113 for a split decision draw.