Tyson Fury retained his World Heavyweight title at the WBC, brutally and clinically stopping Dillian White at the end of the sixth round on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium. After a tenacious and often ugly battle that Fury controlled, although both fighters were warned by the referee about brutal fights, the champion brought the battle to a shocking end. He struck another left kick, and then, when White suddenly opened up and was vulnerable, Fury unlocked a brutal right uppercut.
It was a devastating blow, reminiscent of the freezing uppercut that Alexander Povetkin used to knock out White in August 2020. But this time White was unconscious, although he lost a tooth and orientation. He got to his feet, but stumbled and stumbled as he tried to reach referee Mark Lyson. Lyson had no choice but to end the battle because White was clearly detached from his senses.
White came out in the box like a left-hander, but Fury remained vigilant, preferring to shoot from time to time with a punch and a sharp combination. The athlete tried to hit Fury’s relatively fleshy body often, but the difference in class was obvious. Fury also moved back and forth from the left to his more orthodox style. White struck a few big blows, but few came close to landing, and he seemed intent on turning the battle into a brawl.
By the end of the third, when the Vaseline was smeared on his face, White seemed to be breathing hard in his corner. Fury, meanwhile, was calm and restrained as he listened to instructions from his coach, Sugarhill Steward.
Both fighters were warned in the fourth after a head-on collision that opened a small cut above White’s right eye. Lyson led them to the center of the ring at the beginning of the fifth round to tell them outright that they should avoid any false tactics. Each man struck a hard blow to the body, but the greater precision of Fury’s work, behind his blow and combinations, was obvious.
Tyson Fury with his belts after the match. Photo: Andrew Couldridge / Action Images / Reuters
And then, at the end of the sixth, White’s hopes were dashed. The champion’s superb skill, sheer size and striking power were too much for him.
Fury has never lost in a long career that began in December 2008 and this was his 33rd professional match. At six feet nine, he is five inches taller than White and has an even greater advantage of seven inches. He also has fast legs, a clean ring and the instinct of a finisher that captivated White on a devastating night for the Jamaican-born Londoner.
Steward and Andy Lee, one of the most impressive young coaches in the UK and Ireland, have had a profound influence in Fury’s corner. In the last two years, they have made Fury a much more effective and shocking blow. This latest knockout came straight from the wild heart of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, where Sugarhill and Lee had spent so many years together under the inspiring guidance of the great Emmanuel Steward. Knockouts have always mattered to Kronk – and now they matter and even rank Fury as the best heavyweight in the world.
White had tried to upset Fury, the master of boxing mind games, by remaining quiet and elusive during the long battle. Although he was angry at the way his bag reduction from £ 41,025,000 had been reduced to 20%, White hoped to break Fury by refusing to commit to him before the match. But a decent idea, as Fury was so adept at destroying his opponents, turned out to be the limited use of the crowded Wembley, where the vast majority of the 94,000 crowd backed the lauded Gypsy King. White accepted his role as an outsider with apparent pleasure, but it didn’t matter after Fury took control and cut off the violent end of the battle.
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The other faint hope, hidden from White’s many supporters, was that Fury would be adversely affected by issues related to his previous relationship with alleged criminal gang leader Daniel Kinahan. Fury was worried several times a week when he was forced to explain their past relationship, but the 33-year-old man is always best at home in the ring. He showed once more as he sent White that he almost always had the right answers between the ropes.
Fury promised that this match against White would be his last. He may surprise us again by sticking to his word and retire without a loss, but he will certainly be tempted to box and meet IBF, WBA and WBO champion Oleksandr Usik in a reunion race.
Fury, a fighting man from the top of his shiny shaved head to the bottom of his huge red boxing boots, is unlikely to disappoint those who would like to see him a few more times in the ring. His decisive victory late Saturday night ensured that the colorful reign of the gypsy king would continue for a short time.
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