Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder went toe-to-toe in a Fight of the Year contender, with five knockdowns scored in total as the Gypsy King claimed an 11th-round stoppage win.
But while both fighters experienced moments of real success, with Wilder claiming two of the five knockdowns, both in round four, the stats show it was Fury who was largely dominant.
In claiming the victory, Fury remains undefeated and retains his WBC belt, with mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte likely to be his next opponent, before a mouth-watering undisputed showdown against either Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk should he prevail once more.
Tyson Fury destroyed Deontay Wilder with an 11th-round knockout to retain his WBC title
The stats show that Fury landed over double the amount of punches than his opponent
After Fury strolled to a one-sided beatdown in the pair’s second encounter in February last year, the talk was all of how Wilder would adjust as he went in search of redemption.
Fury’s intentions were clear as he topped the scales at a career-heaviest 277lbs, but Wilder – who also bulked up to 238lbs – was more of an unknown quantity.
Having relied so heavily on his devastating right hand, Wilder’s new trainer Malik Scott – who replaced Mark Breland, who was labelled ‘disloyal’ by the Bronze Bomber after throwing in the towel last year – insisted his fighter would utilise more tools in his arsenal.
That looked like it might just be the case during a fascinating first round, in which Wilder looked for the jab to the body, a punch he completely neglected during his rematch defeat.
However, particularly after Fury scored the knockdown in round three as Wilder began to tire, the American reverted to type and instead went in search of that killer right-hand.
To his credit, Wilder did nearly get the job done as he knocked Fury down twice in the fourth, but in failing to secure the stoppage, the 35-year-old was subsequently comprehensively beaten – and the stats don’t make for pretty reading.
Wilder did score two knockdowns, sending Fury to the canvas twice in the fourth round
But while new trainer Malik Scott (right) revealed his fighter would utilise more of the tools in his arsenal prior to the bout, Wilder reverted to type and went hunting for the big right hand
According to the CompuBox punch stats, Fury landed 150 times on his American counterpart, which is over double what Wilder managed with 72.
Additionally, the 150 blows were more than Wilder had ever received in any of the other 44 fights throughout his career. And in a telling statistic, the American matched Fury’s output in just one round during the fight – the first, with eight apiece.
But perhaps more interesting than the amount of punches landed is how they were thrown.
Quite extraordinarily for a 12-round world title fight, Wilder landed just nine jabs across the entire bout, failing to connect with a single attempt in rounds four, seven, nine, 10 and 11.
The American connected with just nine per cent of the jabs he threw. That’s quite a drastic difference from Fury, who landed 36 jabs throughout the contest at a percentage of 31.
Fury’s dominance with the jab was never in doubt, but even when on top his trainer SugerHill Steward was still desperately imploring his fighter to utilise the punch more frequently to set up his right hand.
It’s a tactic that paid off, with Fury subsequently stating: ‘I need to thank my trainer. At the end there he told me, “get your jab working, only the big dogs pull it out late on”.
‘It was edge of the seat stuff and could’ve gone either way. SugarHill pushed me to knock him out late.’
Fury was dominant with the jab, utlising his left hand to set up his devastating power shots
Fury subsequently thanked his trainer SugarHill Steward (left) for his mid-fight instructions
Fury wasn’t just dominant with the jab, however, also significantly out-landing his long-term rival in terms of power punches.
The Gypsy King attempted 268 throughout the fight, landing 114 with an accuracy of 43 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Bronze Bomber landed only 63 of the 253 he threw, meaning he had an accuracy of 25 per cent.
In the 11th round, where Wilder was stopped after his third visit to the canvas, the American landed just two punches.
Stats, of course, aren’t everything, with much of Fury’s success being won in the clinch, where he used his heavier frame to tire out his increasingly exhausted opponent.
However, they do show that Wilder was once again lacking in variety, with the better-skilled boxer in Fury having to negate just the one punch.
And though offering promise during a competitive first round, in truth Wilder’s only ever hope was a knockout.