The trilogy between rivals Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder is officially over.

After knocking down his opponent in the third round and getting up from two knockdowns in the fourth round, Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder to retain the WBC heavyweight title in emphatic fashion by scoring an 11th round knockout. The “Gypsy King” obtained the second consecutive win over the former WBC champion with both fights ending in knockout victories. Fury’s record now stands at 31-0-1, with 22 KOs on his resume.

Wilder falls to 42-2-1 with 41 KOs.

The battle started off with Wilder aiming for Fury’s body early with jabs and combinations with the intent of wearing Fury down in the later rounds. The strategy didn’t last long as Fury became aggressive in the second round, throwing a left-right combination while coming forward and getting Wilder in a clinch that wore Wilder down. In the third round, Fury landed a right that stunned Wilder before knocking him down with an uppercut. Wilder got up and weathered the storm before responding in the next round.

Fury pursued Wilder to the ropes but as Wilder was backing up, he let off a right hand that caught Fury off guard and he could not keep his balance. He went down near his corner then got up to go after Wilder again. After an exchange between the two in the center of the ring, Wilder scored another knockdown with a right hand. Referee Russell Mora gave Fury a count of 8 while Fury was pacing near his corner before the round ended.

While it looked like Wilder got momentum from scoring those knockdowns, it did not deter the plan from Fury as he continued to rough up Wilder. He landed jabs that seemed to stop Wilder from moving, uppercuts that took a toll, and leaning on him in clinches to get Wilder’s legs tired. There was one point where Wilder could not stand up because of all the weight put on his upper body by Fury, but he continued to press on.

By the time the ninth round completed, Fury seemed to have the advantage as Wilder looked very tired. More punches from Fury started to land with more emphasis while Wilder’s punches did not have that much behind them. In the tenth, Wilder threw a left that missed up close and Fury responded with a right that sent Wilder to the canvas again. The former champion got up and landed a couple of uppercuts, but it was not enough to turn the fight around. The following round was the finisher as Fury landed an uppercut sending Wilder back, then a left hand and a thunderous right sent Wilder down for the final time as Russell Mora put an end to the fight at 1:10 of the round.

When the fight was done, Fury was thankful that he got through the fight. “I give God the glory for the victory,” he said. “Wilder is a tough man. He took some big shots tonight. And I want to say that if it wasn’t for Sugar Hill (Steward), America and Detroit’s own, I wouldn’t have gotten through that fight tonight.”

He also gave his thoughts on the impact that this trilogy has on the history of boxing.

“It was a great fight tonight, as good as any trilogy in history,” said Fury. “October 9, 2021, will go down in history, I hope.”

While beaten, Deontay Wilder was able to share his view as to what happened.

“I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough,” said Wilder afterwards. “I’m not sure what happened. I know that in training he did certain things, and I also knew that he didn’t come in at 277 to be a ballet dancer. He came to lean on me, try to rough me up and he succeeded.”

That success by Tyson Fury led him to a big victory that puts him in position to potentially fight for the undisputed championship next year. He may have to wait a few months for that to occur, but for now he sits atop the heavyweight division.

Cover photo by Mikey Williams of Top Rank