BREAKING: Fury beats Wilder to become WBC heavyweight champion
Tyson Fury has beaten Deontay Wilder to become the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world.
Fury produced a stunning performance in Las Vegas, dropping the Wilder twice before the American’s team threw in the towel in the seventh round.
He hands Wilder the first loss of his professional career and ends his five-year reign as champion, sealing his own return to the summit of boxing.
Fury bullied the man widely regarded as one of the biggest punchers the division has ever seen, nullifying the threat that had seen Wilder rack up 41 knockout wins from 43 fights.
Wilder hit the canvas for just the second time in his career in the third round with Fury coming within seconds of sealing the contest earl.
"[Deontay Wilder] will be a champion again, but I will say the king has returned to the top of the throne."
βTyson Fury π #WilderFury2 pic.twitter.com/mwKWZC8ZUM
— ESPN (@espn) February 23, 2020
The mauling continued with Wilder unable to clear his head as Fury continued the brutal assault. In the fifth, he was down again, rocked again in the opening seconds of the seventh with a vicious left hook.
The end was near, and as Fury backed his man into the corner landing unanswered hooks, the towel came in.
At 273 pounds, Tyson Fury is the second heaviest fighter since 1962 (start of the WBC/WBA era) to win a heavyweight title.
Nikolay Valuev is the heaviest, who was 324 pounds when he defeated John Ruiz in Dec. 2005. pic.twitter.com/uXaFqLiqmH
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 23, 2020
Fury previously ruled the heavyweight division after beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 before his world fell apart. The Manchester fighter fell into a spiral of depression and drug addiction, contemplating suicide less than a year after becoming heavyweight champion.
Fury emerged from a torturous spell in his life in 2018, slimming back town after ballooning to 27 stone during his time away from the ring.
π¬π§ @Tyson_Fury becomes the FIRST boxer in history to have won:
π WBO
π WBA
π WBCπ IBO
π IBFπ Ring
π Linealβ EVERY major heavyweight world title.
π Never. In. Doubt. pic.twitter.com/mYuBDFCTVK
— SPORF (@Sporf) February 23, 2020
Read Also:Β Wilder, Fury bulk up for heavyweight showdown
After a sharing a split decision draw with Wilder in their first bout in December 2018, Furyβs bid for redemption came full circle in Las Vegas tonight.
Last October, Fury revealed he planned to retire from boxing after three more fights. With one of those ticked off, a unification bout with IBF, WBO and WBA (Super) champion Anthony Joshua surely looms on the horizon.