There was no real winner decided in the ring, but everyone involved with Saturday night’s Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury heavyweight title fight was a victor.
The judges ruled the 12-round bout a split draw, meaning Wilder left with his WBC title intact. The bout took place from Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Scores were 115-111 for Wilder, 114-112 for Fury and 113-113.
“I think with the two knockdowns I definitely won the fight,” said Wilder, who has recorded a knockdown in each of his 41 pro fights and was defending his WBC belt for the eighth time since 2015. “We poured our hearts out tonight. We’re both warriors, but with those two drops I think I won the fight.”
Fury, who survived an incredible knock down late in the fight, is now 27-0-1 in his career. Wilder holds a 40-0-1 record.
“We’re on away soil, I got knocked down twice, but I still believe I won that fight,” said England’s Fury, whose amazing comeback continues following a two and a half-year absence from the sport from drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues. “I hope I did you all proud after nearly three years out of the ring. I was never going to be knocked down tonight. I showed good heart to get up. I came here tonight and I fought my heart out.”
Fury held the striking advantage, landing 84 shots to 71 by Wilder. In the 12th, though, Wilder landed a combo that dropped Fury, who just survived by beating the standing 10-count.
Wilder said he would “love for it to be my next fight,” and Fury stated the same.
“One hundred percent we’ll do the rematch,” said Fury, fighting in the first heavyweight title pay-per-view bout in America since 2002. “We are two great champions. Me and this man are the two best heavyweights on the planet.”
Also on the card, Jarrett Hurd defended his 154-pound IBF and WBA titles with a fourth round knockout of James Welborn and Luis Ortiz topped Travis Kauffman.