Deontay Wilder ranked his top three KOs and included draw with Tyson Fury because he insisted: 'I definitely knocked him out'
12/08/2024 09:44
Deontay Wilder included his draw with Tyson Fury when he was asked to rank the top three knockouts of his boxing career.
Many felt the former WBC heavyweight world champion was fortunate to escape with his unbeaten record after his first fight with the Brit, in which he scored two knockdowns but looked to have been largely outboxed for most of the rounds.
The second knockdown, in round 12, has always been contentious with Wilder.
He previously said he believed referee Jack Reiss counted slowly and so gave Fury a chance to get up.
When asked to name his best KOs, Wilder told Marcus Watson on Instagram Live in 2021: “Coldest knockouts? There’s so many.
“I’m gonna give you the ones that pop out in my mind.
“Bermane Stiverne II – I transformed, I had an outer experience with him. It was so crazy.
“Artur Szpilka, Szpilka was another one.
“And the 12th round knockout of Fury, because I definitely knocked his ass out…
“I won that fight hands down.
“Not only with me knocking him out and the ref giving him more time because he felt like it would be the right thing to do because of the type of fight that it was.
“It was a highly anticipated fight, had a lot on the line and sometimes these referees go out of their character feeling like, ‘I’mma do what’s best for the sport,’ instead of what is in the rules.
“I definitely knocked him out. The referee was Jack Reiss and if you go back and look at any of his fights, he stops a lot of fights early.
“Sometimes they don’t even get to get up and he’s waving it off.
“When I knocked Fury out I literally seen it with my own self, that’s one of the reasons why I was so surprised.
“Not only with the count, but I seen this man’s eyes rolled back into his head, that’s how this s*** was.
“I seen his veins popping out his head and I knew he had a concussion. He was gone, that’s a wave off, period.”
Unfortunately for Wilder, he’s more recently been on the receiving end of highlight-reel KOs.
In 2020, he was stopped by Fury and lost his WBC heavyweight world title in their rematch.
Then, in 2021, he again floored the Brit twice in their trilogy fight, but was unable to finish the job,
Fury survived once more and brutally KO’d Wilder in the 11th round.
The American returned in 2022 with a KO of Robert Helenius, but has since lost twice more.
He was outboxed by Joseph Parker last year and then brutally knocked out by Zhilei Zhang in June.
His future is now unclear with many expecting him to retire, though he has shown no indication of doing so.
