By Roxanne Wright

The second fight between Tyson Fury, “The Gypsy King”, and Deontay Wilder, “The Bronze Bomber”, finally happened and it did not disappoint!

Talk of the Wilder versus Fury match had been on people’s lips since their first fight on the 27th September 2018, in which the two undefeated heavy weight boxers were given a split-decision draw result.

In the first fight, Wilder threw 430 punches but only landed 71 (16.5%). Whereas Fury threw less punches with the count of 327 but landed more with the count of 84 (25.7%). Yet, Wilder threw a considerably higher amount of powerful punches, 182 punches, to Fury, 104 punches. Fury won 8 rounds out of the twelve. But in the 9th and 12th round, Fury was knocked down, yet miraculously stood back up to face his toughest component yet.

The result of the fight caused a lot of controversy between the boxers themselves; Wilder said “I think with the two knockdowns I definitely won the fight”, Tyson Fury said “I was on the ground twice but I truly believe I won that fight, and I think everyone in here did too.” Opinions and arguments also sparked from boxing fans all over the world. Popular sporting Youtuber Brian Davis, more famously known as ‘True Geordie’, shared his thoughts in his recent video ‘Wilder vs Fury 2- the Geordie Preview’; “Fury was robbed, in my opinion, he had that decision even with two knockdowns”.

Between the first match in late 2018, and the second match in early 2020, both heavyweight boxers gained weight. Tyson Fury gained 16.5 pounds, weighing in at 273 pounds. Wilder gained a similar amount of 18.5 pounds, weighing him as 231 pounds, his heaviest weight yet.

Before the second match, Fury’s boxing record was 30 fights, 29 wins, 20 wins by knockout, 1 draw (with Wilder). Wilder however had a much more intimidating record of 43 matches, 42 wins, 41 wins by knockout, 1 draw (with Fury). In their first and second fight, Wilder put his title of the WBC heavyweight champion on the line, and Fury defended his title of the Lineal World Heavyweight champion. 

Betbull’s odds for the second match between the Bronze Bomber and the Gypsy King were: 11/8 on Wilder to win by knockout. 5/1 on Fury to win by knockout. True Geordie, who has been following their journey, states that “this is a hard fight to call [be]cause they are each other’s kryptonite”, “they’re perfectly balanced to counter each other”, which was evident in both their first and second fight.

The long-awaited and much anticipated second fight between the Gypsy King and the Bronze Bomber finally came to the UK screens in the early hours of Sunday 23rd February 2020. The second fight, however, took a completely different turn to the first one. 

Wilder threw 141 punches, yet only landed 31 (22%). Fury, on the other hand, truly avenged the split-decision draw of the last fight by throwing 267 punches and landing 82 (30.7%). Out of the 82 punches landed by Fury, 52 of them were powerful. Whereas, Wilder, a boxer renowned for his one punch knockout, only landed 18 powerful punches on Fury. 

Shock and applause filled the Las Vegas stadium early in the fight as the Bronze Bomber got knocked down, with less than 40 seconds left in the third round, after taking a brutal right-hand to the head. Fury raised his fists in celebration as Wilder jumped back quickly to his feet, in almost disbelief. 

Fury didn’t stop there as 1 minute and 10 seconds into the fifth round, Wilder got knocked down from a body shot. “Deontay does not look stable on his feet right now” said a BT commentator after Fury scored his second knockdown of the match. 

In the sixth round, with less than 20 seconds left, Fury pressed Wilder into the ropes and seemed to lick the blood off his component’s neck. In the lead up of the fight, Fury said he wanted to “taste blood” which he certainly followed through with.

Then 1 minute and 39 seconds into the 7th round, Wilder’s corner threw in the towel and Fury took victory, keeping his record as an undefeated heavyweight boxer. The Gypsy King remained the Lineal Heavyweight Champion and took Wilder’s title of the WBC Heavyweight Champion of the World. In spirit of his victory, Fury broke out in rendition of “American Pie”, and the whole arena sung with him. 

Wilder was clearly disappointed with his team and after his defeat he said, “The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel and I was ready to go out on my shield.” Wilder was then taken to hospital to have his injuries seen to. In the post-fight Press Conference, Fury said “can’t wait for the next fight, the rematch, hopefully, if he wants it.” So maybe these two heavyweight boxers will fight again. 

But it goes without saying that Tyson Fury’s journey is one of the greatest in boxing. From his 31-month break from the sport, in which he went from 260 pounds to 400 pounds. Then battling issues with mental health, alcoholism and drug addiction, to now be named the undefeated WBC heavyweight champion, after defeating Deontay Wilder less than 2 years later, is incredible.

Categories: Sports

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Wilder vs Fury 2: A Review

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