The future can wait as boxing fans savour one of the bouts of this era

Fights between Tyson Fury and fellow Brit Dillian Whyte and new champ Oleksandr Usyk will probably come next, writes Ben Burrows

Referee Russell Mora holds up the arm of Tyson Fury as he celebrates his 11th-round knockout of Deontay Wilder (Getty)

With a punch-up that ended with a sing song, Tyson Fury really did enjoy what some would see as a stereotypical British night out in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The Brit survived two early knockdowns only to clamber back to his feet and eventually knock out Deontay Wilder to retain his WBC world heavyweight title.

The contest was the stuff of a storybook as it see-sawed from one fighter to the other before Fury at last landed the final telling blow in the 11th round.

It was the ending that this long-drawn-out trilogy of fights needed after a controversial first and a resounding second.

Fury had improbably risen from the canvas to snatch a draw in the first meeting between the two – back in 2018 – before putting on a clinic in the rematch in February 2020, knocking the American out to inflict a first career defeat.

This match up though, a first for either boxer in the last 19 months, was the best of the bunch.

Fury took control from the outset and seemingly was on the verge of an early stoppage in the third round only for Wilder to come roaring back in an explosive fourth.

The Brit soon reasserted his advantage by halfway, however, evening up the knockdowns in the 10th before a flurry of shots in the penultimate round brought it to a dramatic close.

For a sports journalist, the story wrote itself as a jubilant Fury celebrated by regaling the capacity crowd with a version of “Walking in Memphis” before partying long into the Vegas night. Fights with fellow Brit Dillian Whyte and new champ Oleksandr Usyk will probably follow soon. For Wilder the outlook is less clear after a second chastening defeat in as many fights.

The future can wait though as boxing fans and writers savour one of the great fights of the era.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor