17:47 ET
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Mike Coppinger ESPN
LONDON – Tyson Fury unleashed a brutal right uppercut that ended a rough title defense against Dillian White on his return to the UK before more than 94,000 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
If you believe the heavyweight champion, this was the last match of his career in the Hall of Fame.
Fury, known as the “Gypsy King”, set the shot at the end of the battle with a blow, one of 143 he threw into battle. Upperk immediately smashed White on the canvas. The 34-year-old White was battling for the heavyweight title for the first time after waiting more than 1,600 days as the WBC’s No. 1 contender and seems to be using every ounce of strength to beat the number of referees.
But when White (28-3, 19 KOs) was asked to move forward to prove his readiness, he crashed into the ropes and the referee quickly stopped the race with one second left in round 6, which probably marked the end of Fury’s career. 33 years. years.
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“I did everything I was asked to do,” said Fury, an ESPN 5-pound boxer at the post-fight press conference. “I’ve done more promotions, more interviews than anyone else, and I’m going beyond all these shows I’m fighting for, so I definitely deserve to be able to choose where I think it’s most helpful.
“I gave 20 years to boxing, amateur and professional. My brain was pounding. I was taken down, shaken, cut. I had hard battles, I had draws, I had victories. I’ve boxed all over the world. How much blood can you draw from a stone? “
Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) is competing for the first time since an ultra-violent victory over Diontay Wilder in October, which was declared the battle of the year by ESPN. In the battle of the trilogy, Fury defeated Wilder once in Round 3, but he himself was dropped twice in Round 4.
He ended their bitter rivalry with another Wilder knockdown in 10 rounds, followed by a brutal KO one round later.
At Friday’s weigh-in, Fury weighed 264.8 pounds, almost 13 pounds lighter than in October. This was an indication that Fury wanted to box his hind leg against White instead of using the smashing strategy that worked so well against Wilder.
“I started touching him with the uppercut on his body and then I just slid aside and hit a beautiful peach,” said Fury, whose previous five fights took place in the United States. “I softened it with the blow. Don’t get involved in a fight, exchanging blows, as I did against Wilder. I wanted to keep my distance, to use my range. “
Strike statistics
Hit FuryWhyteTotal Throw7629Total Throw 243171Percent31% 17% Hit Strike298Throw Shot14372Percent20% 11% Power 4721Power Power 10099Percent47% 21% – Courtesy of CompuBox
White entered the 1-1 match against former title holders, winning by a decision of Joseph Parker and losing by technical knockout to Anthony Joshua.
Against Fury, he seemed to be looking for a haymaker to end the race. He was successful in jumping when he managed to hook Fury to the ropes. But after Fury moved the action to the center of the ring, White found himself at the end of Fury’s sharp combinations.
Fury attacked the middle part of White with both hands and often hit the body. The sharp, straight blows of the champion repeatedly pierced White’s guard and in the 3rd round his right eye was already damaged.
White established himself more in round 4 with a set of rough tactics and the little referee encountered problems when he tried to break them. Fury and White started shouting at each other, claiming they had been fouled. The referee sternly warned them, but the words did not help them stay in control.
A moment later, White made a clear rabbit as the referee tried to break them, which led to a new warning. Fury seemed reinforced by the tactics and began firing more combinations, interrupted by a hook thrown by both the orthodox and the left-hander.
“He tried to make it a rough, fair game,” said Fury, who was defending his first title in the United Kingdom after winning the championship for the first time against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. He was trying to deal with me there.
“He was trying to fight a dinosaur. I’m like a T-Rex inside. I’m 6 feet 9, 270 pounds. It’s hard, especially when you’re shorter and not as fast as you are good. He tried to hit me with his elbows, his head … He used his forearms, he tried to hit me with his elbows. When you try to cheat in battle, you always come in second. “
White, known as “The Body Snatcher”, continued to attack Fury’s midfield – 17 of his 29 connections were to the body – and he slipped several of his patented left hooks into his head, but failed to withstand a single breach.
The heavy front leg White (6 feet-4, 253.25 pounds) constantly hung his left arm and seemingly invited the uppercut, which ended the match. And when it finally came, it was clear that all the critics who had previously called Fury a “pillow frenzy” were silent forever, if not after Wilder’s two Fury knockouts.
“SugarHill Steward, he made me a great fighter,” said Fury, who scored three consecutive breaks after winning a decision against Otto Wallin in 2019. Years ago, he got used to shooting and hitting, touching and sliding.
“But you saw me here tonight … You made me the biggest heavyweight hitter, by a mile.”
Fury insisted that he would not return to the ring, even for the undisputed match for the heavyweight title ahead of him. Alexander Usik is ready to defend the other three major titles of the division against Anthony Joshua in the return match on July 23. A potential battle that pitted the winner against Fury, especially if it was Joshua, his English counterpart, would be among the richest in all of boxing.
“There’s a lot of money to be made, but for me I come from … everything, I come from nothing,” said Fury, who won a career-high $ 33,640,500 as a result of a record bid won by promoter Frank Warren. which included a $ 4,102,500 win bonus.
Fury added: “It has never been about money for me. I know a lot of people with big money, but none of them are happy. I know that money cannot make you happy. It wasn’t even for belts for me. It was never about inheritance. It was nothing more than punching a mother in the face at night. That’s all there was to it. “
Even if Fury retires and keeps the promise he made to his wife Paris after the third match with Wilder, it is clear that he will remain in the public eye. He discussed his return to the WWE and a potential match with Drew McIntyre from Scotland at the SummerSlam on July 30 in Nashville.
Next month, WWE will host its first major event in the UK in 30 years with a show at a stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on September 3.
“Don’t rule me out there,” said Fury, whose 2019 WWE event ended in victory over Brown Strawman at the Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
He added: “I have to talk to [WWE chairman] Vince [McMahon] and the boys. I know Drew McIntyre has said a lot about me.
“I would like to be in Cardiff. I enjoyed the last time in Saudi Arabia; it was fantastic. We will connect and see if we can make SummerSlam a reality.”
There is also UFC heavyweight champion Francis Nganu, who was in the ring with Fury to celebrate Saturday’s victory.
“The great Francis Nganu is here today,” Fury said. “He’s on my list of hits in an exhibition fight, no matter how much he wants it: in a cage, in the boxing ring, boxing gloves, UFC gloves, we can do it. I think everyone wants to see him, he’s a monster from a boy, I’m a monster from a man, so it’s definitely going to be a clash of the Titans. “
Leaning on the Floyd Mayweather Advertising Award in a boxing match against Logan Paul, Fury added: “I do not rule out exhibitions for sure; take some of this money from Floyd Mayweather. I want to have fun. I am an artist. … That’s what I do best. “
There is no doubt about that. But a battle? This is certainly a close second. Fury is undoubtedly the greatest heavyweight of his generation, the greatest of all time, whose huge figure refuted his agile legs. And whose ability to promote battle is unsurpassed.
“I did everything I ever wanted to do,” he said. “He will retire as the second heavyweight in history after Rocky Marciano to retire undefeated. [Whyte] I haven’t fought a world champion, I’m not a world champion; I am a legend in this game.
“And you can’t deny it, I’m the best heavyweight ever. There was never a man to beat me. Frame 6 feet 9, weighing 270 pounds, can move as a middle category and hit like a thunderstorm and can withstand a blow like any other … [I have] the heart of a lion, the thinking of the Wizard of Oz.
“I gave it all to you guys, put it online every time. That’s enough … Going home for a big, big battle was amazing. I couldn’t finish it, it’s been. A few years were fabulous, they were absolutely more than I ever dreamed of as a child and as an adult … I’m very happy with my career. “
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