Draw between Wilder and Fury: blessing and curse

The US boxing fans have long been waiting for this moment. More than 15 years, to be exact. On June 21, 2003 Lennox Lewis won in Los Angeles by demolition after the sixth round against Vitali Klitschko. It was the last truly significant heavyweight world championship in the United States.

After that, there were still a few World Cup matches in the premier class on US soil. Vitali's brother Vladimir has boxed several times in New York. And Deontay Wilder crowned himself WBC World Champion in 2015 and has defended the title seven times since then. He has not denied really big fights.

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Until now. On early Sunday morning German time Wilder put the World Cup belt against the British Tyson Fury on the line. Fury dethroned Klitschko three years ago and went straight into the fight just like Wilder did. The general expectation was correspondingly high. When does it ever happen that two unbeaten heavyweights of WM format meet?

A fight with special dramaturgy

The good news after the fight is that there will be more duels of the same category in the near future. Because Wilder and Fury are still undefeated, after they have parted in a draw. A re-match seems preprogrammed. And with unbeaten WBA, WBO and IBF World Champion Anthony Joshua, there's even a potential opponent for big ring battles.

Wilder and Fury did not perform well in front of 17,000 fans at the Staples Center, but delivered a varied fight with spectacular moments and a very special dramaturgy. Most experts agreed in advance that Wilder would win by Ko. To impressive is the clout of the World Champion, who premiered 39 of his 40 victories. And too unlikely Fury's successful comeback appeared after complete crash and drug addiction.

In the ring, the challenger then again showed exactly the qualities that had made him surprisingly in November 2015, the world champion: Fury moved well and fast, shuttled the attacks of his opponent skillfully and used his greater range to Wilder with the leader keep at a distance. The defending champion worked hard and made isolated goals, but did not manage to bring his notorious stroke hardness to effective use.

Fury has to go down twice and fight back

Until the ninth round. Then a right hook of the titlist hit Fury's temple, and the Briton had to go down. But when most of the spectators expected Wilder to end the fight, Fury fought back, winning rounds ten and eleven with good combinations, thus paving the way for the grand finale: in the twelfth and final round, Wilder came back with a tough one Right to head through. When Fury's body tension had already stopped and he fell backwards, an additional left hook struck.

The Briton lay flat on the mat, no longer really responding to the counting of referee Jack Reiss, but then scrambled to his feet and raised his fists as a sign that he could go on. But it did not stop. Instead of going to Ko himself, Fury put his own hard hit and brought the visibly exhausted Wilder in the final minute in distress.

The final gong redeemed both. After that they lay in each other's arms for a long time and complimented each other on the performance. Both thought they had won, but accepted the draw and celebrated that they had given the spectators good and entertaining entertainment at a high level. There was no winner in the ring, but boxing may feel like a winner.

Large deviations in the scores

But the conclusion of the result also raises questions. Because only the British judge Phil Edwards actually gave a draw (113: 113). His colleague Alejandro Rochin from Mexico scored 115: 111 for Wilder and Robert Tapper of Canada won 114: 112 for Fury.

Explanation: The judges rate round by round according to the so-called "ten-point-must" system. The winner of a round gets ten, the loser nine points. For precipitation a point is deducted. 115: 111 for Wilder means that the defending champion has won seven of the twelve rounds, regardless of the rainfall. At 112: 114, only four rounds were given to Wilder. At 113: 113, the most accurate rating, the American has won five rounds, Fury for seven, the rainfall ensure the tie.

A look at the official "Master Scorecard", where all rounds are recorded, shows that the three judges agreed on only six of the twelve rounds. Even if the fight was tight, the bottom line draw is an appropriate verdict and the different scores of two judges cancel each other out, the deviations in the rating are problematic.

False judgments have damaged the image of boxing in recent years. If sport wants to get back into the limelight, not only does it need big fights like those between Wilder and Fury, but also officials who are up to the job.