UFC chief Dana White hails ‘awesome’ fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, with the outspoken boxing critic admitting the heavyweight thriller was ‘exactly what the sport needed’
- Dana White has hailed Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight thriller
- Fury, 33, triumphed with an 11th round knockout over Wilder, 35, in Sin City
- However it was a dramatic contest in which both hit the canvas multiple times
- White said the bout was ‘awesome’ and was ‘just what boxing needed’
- The UFC president has been an outspoken critic of boxing in recent years
Dana White has hailed Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight thriller as the UFC president said the dramatic eleven-round contest in Las Vegas was ‘exactly what boxing needed’.
Fury, 33, climbed off the canvas twice to pummel Wilder, 35, in the 11th-round in Sin City, serving a conclusive end to the pair’s rivalry that has spanned three years.
Fury v Wilder III has provided a shot in the arm for boxing, with fans and pundits ranking Saturday’s contest among the best fights in the sport’s history.
Dana White has praised Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s ‘awesome’ fight in Las Vegas
And White, who has been unshy in voicing his criticism of the sport, lavished praise on the heavyweight titans, admitting that Fury and Wilder’s blockbuster was just what boxing needed.
‘I thought it was awesome,’ he said on Dana White’s Contender Series. ‘I think that the heavyweight fight that happened on Saturday.. and let me just tell you this (first). Going into it, my thought process was “for what, why?” you know what I mean.
‘(Joshua) just got beat, and yeah, why do that… You know why? Because boxing needed that. Boxing needed that fight.
‘It was an incredible heavyweight fight. I thought both guys fought their asses off. And for Fury to come in at 277lbs and you know fight the way that he fought. Get knocked down, get back up and keep fighting. It was just, it was exactly what boxing needed.
Fury, 33, brutally knocked out Wilder, 35, in the eleventh round of a gutsy war in Sin City
It was a back and forth contest in which both heavyweight titans climbed off the canvas
‘So, [I am] glad it happened and congratulations to both of them, everybody involved and the sport of boxing.’
White had slammed the state of boxing last summer amid Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition bout with novice Logan Paul, saying: ‘When people ask me “what’s the state of boxing right now?’ That’s where it’s at.
‘Didn’t that kid [Paul] get beat up by the f***ing video game kid from England [KSI]? Now he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather?’
White, an outspoken critic of boxing, said Fury’s win was ‘just what the sport needed’
Fury and Wilder’s rivalry has captured the imagination of the boxing public and the Gypsy King claimed in the aftermath of his latest victory that he is head and shoulders above his rivals in the heavyweight division.
‘When it comes down to it, every time I’ve delivered,’ Fury said. ‘I can only be the best of my day, I’ve done that: I’m the best fighter in my era.
‘Without sounding too sharp and clever, I believe that I could beat any man in history, any man born I believe I’ve got a really good chance of beating him.’