In a stunning performance in Las Vegas, Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder via a technical knockout in the seventh round to become the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world. The victory, achieved on February 22, 2020, marked a complete return to the summit of boxing for Fury and handed Wilder the first loss of his professional career, ending his five-year title reign.
Fury dominated the fight, demonstrating a relentless, bullying style against a man widely considered one of the hardest punchers in the division. Fury first dropped Wilder early in the fight and continued his brutal assault. Wilder was down again in the fifth round and was visibly rocked once more by a vicious left hook at the start of the seventh. As Fury backed Wilder into a corner, landing a series of unanswered hooks, Wilder’s corner ultimately threw in the towel to stop the fight.
This victory brought Fury’s remarkable redemption story full circle. The Manchester fighter previously ruled the heavyweight division after defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, but subsequently struggled with depression, drug addiction, and ballooned to over 27 stone. After emerging from this torturous spell and slimming back down, he fought Wilder to a split decision draw in December 2018. His emphatic victory in the rematch sealed his comeback.
With this significant win, and following his announcement in October 2019 that he planned to retire after three more fights, a major unification bout against then-IBF, WBO, and WBA (Super) champion Anthony Joshua was widely anticipated as the next step on the horizon.
Wilders team throw the towel in round 7 Tyson Fury is now the WBC & Ring Magazine heavyweight championship of the world’ #WilderFury2 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/hRKa0yvaHb
— BOXING CORNER 2️⃣4️⃣/7️⃣ (@boxingcorner247) February 23, 2020
