In December 2018, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and lineal champion Tyson Fury fought to a split draw (113-113, 115-111 Wilder, 114-112 Fury). The two face each other again Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for Wilder's WBC title.
Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) outboxed Wilder for a good chunk of the first fight. But Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) possesses the single greatest weapon in all of boxing, his thunderous right hand. Wilder sent the former unified heavyweight champion to the canvas in the ninth round, and then with the fight hanging in the balance and down on one scorecard heading into the 12th round, the "Bronze Bomber" dropped the Brit to be able to secure a draw.
After ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the scorecards, there was outrage by fans of Wilder and Fury, both sides thinking their guy had won.
But how did the people who cover the sport for a living score the bout? We went back and looked at 27 scores. Fifteen had Fury winning, three for Wilder and nine had it a draw.
Here's the breakdown:
Fury | Wilder | Draw |
Steve Kim (ESPN) 115-112 | Dan Rafael (ESPN) 114-112 | Brian Mahoney (Associated Press) 113-113 |
Wil Esco (BadLeftHook.com) 114-112 | Lance Pugmire (LA Times) 114-112 | Greg Beacham (Associated Press) 113-113 |
The Guardian 115-111 | Bob Velin (PBC) 114-112 | Andreas Hale (SportingNews.com) 113-113 |
The Telegraph 115-111 | Matthew Wells (Fansided.com) 113-113 | |
Brian Campbell (CBSSports.com) 115-111 | Kevin Iole (Yahoo.com) 113-113 | |
Patrick Stumberg (MMAMania.com) 116-110 | Norm Frauenheim (15Rounds.com) 113-113 | |
Mookie Alexander (BloodyElbow.com) 115-111 | Mike Rosenthal (BoxingScene.com) 113-113 | |
Peter Kahn (Forbes.com) 115-111 | Joe Santoliquito (RingTV.com) 113-113 | |
Jai Bednall (News.com.AU) 114-112 | Joe DePaolo (Washington Post) 114-114 | |
Steve Farhood (Showtime) 115-111 | ||
Mike Coppinger (RingTV.com) 116-110 | ||
Keith Idec (BoxingScene.com) 114-112 | ||
Cliff Rold (BoxingScene.com) 114-112 | ||
Paulie Malignaggi (Showtime) 115-111 | ||
John Raspanti (MaxBoxing.com) 114-112 |