Never two without three.

Against American Deontay Wilder, British boxer Tyson Fury retained his WBC heavyweight belt, winning by KO in the 11th round.

At the end of a daunting clash, which will go down in boxing annals, yet another Briton's right hook - there were so many that they were no longer counted at this stage - got the better of the American, that we felt more and more tested, with an insane courage to remain still standing in the ring of the T-Mobile Arena of Las Vegas.

"I'm made of cast iron and steel, baby!"

Thus Fury, 33 years old and still undefeated in 32 fights (1 draw), once again dominated Wilder for their third clash in almost three years, after the draw that separated them in December 2018 and his resounding victory in February 2020, which allowed him to snatch the champion's belt.

#NewCoverPhoto x @Tyson_Fury pic.twitter.com/w4dh70NtTl

- Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) October 10, 2021

“Like the great John Wayne said, I'm made of cast iron and steel, baby! I've been knocked down twice, hurt. Wilder is a big hitter. And he's a hard man, whom I hit with hard blows. And my lord, my savior raised me tonight so that I give him glory ", reacted hot the" Gipsy King ".

"It was a big fight tonight, worthy of the greatest trilogies in history," he added, promoter Bob Arum following suit: "in fifty-seven years of work, I have never seen a heavyweight fight as magnificent as this ".

Fury as Roman Emperor

Arrived in a centurion's costume, with a red crested helmet on the leader, the Mancunien was the first to really hurt, by placing, already, a right hook on the ear of his rival, then an uppercut on the left. that brought down Wilder.

The moment I knew @Tyson_Fury was here for a war tonight.

This man is a warrior!

pic.twitter.com/vV6Fdmi6cm

- Dev Sahni (@DevSahni_) October 10, 2021

Bis repetita of the previous fight, during which he made the difference on the same type of sequence before finishing after seven rounds?

Nay!

Because Wilder quickly found the resources to do what he does best, from the next recovery: place his lightning right. 

Fury took it to the head and it must have turned terribly inside, because he ended up on the mat.

Then a second time, after a hook on the back of the neck which sent him forward, before being saved by the gong.

But the "Gipsy King", who had already fallen twice in 2018 and had risen each time, did it again before attacking with more vigor.

The following rounds, he dominated them by placing his combinations left right, and Wilder seemed more and more exhausted, even if he never refused blow for blow.

In the 10th round, Fury returned Wilder to the ground, again from his right hook.

With the energy of desperation, Wilder replied and rocked the Briton, who said to him with the glove hitting his own head: "Go on, hit again!".

A "Rocky" fight, but better and for real!

It was finally in this 11th round that he finished the job, Wilder's terrible fall face down leaving no room for doubt.

In the end, although having never been so heavy in a ring (125.6 kg, or 17.7 kg more than Wilder), instilling doubt about his state of form the day before during the weigh-in, Fury made display of a boxing rudely effective and a solidity foolproof.

Because the lesson of what has been seen in the ring is that his preparation, weighed down by the Covid-19 he contracted this summer, resulting in a postponement of the fight, will have been solely focused on power, in the service of a technique that we already knew superior to that of the American.

Towards a unification of the belts?

Strategy pays off, under the eyes of former NBA stars Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal.

All in front of 15,820 spectators in "Fury", despite the notable absence of the usual strong British colony, deprived of travel because the United States will not reopen its borders to travelers vaccinated against Covid-19 until the beginning of November.

Fury, who refused to project, can now look to a potential unification of the titles against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who created a huge surprise last month by beating by unanimous decision Anthony Joshua, to seize the belts WBA, WBO and IBF.

For Wilder, 35 (2 losses, 42 wins, 1 draw), this new failure must be terribly hard to take, as he gave everything he had.

So much so that the question of his future as a professional boxer arises.

With AFP

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