World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury reiterated his call to retire after he retained his WBC title with a brutal sixth-round stoppage of fellow Briton Dillian Whyte in front of more than 94,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium.
A right uppercut from Fury sent Whyte to the canvas and the champion raised his right hand in celebration. Whyte, who appeared to lose a tooth from the mighty punch, got to his feet and tried to show he was ready to continue but then staggered, leading the referee to end the fight.
AS IT HAPPENED: Fury dominates Whyte with brutal uppercut
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Fury toyed with Whyte for much of a cagey fight, with Whyte – the long-time mandatory challenger – mostly reckless with some big, wayward shots.
It was a 32nd win for the undefeated Fury, who defended his WBC belt for the second time and has talked of retiring at the age of 33.
Before giving the biggest ever capacity for a boxing bout in Britain a now-familiar post-fight rendition of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” Fury – one of boxing’s most colourful and controversial characters – suggested he would stick to a pre-fight vow to hang up his gloves.
“This might be the final curtain for the Gypsy King,” Fury said in the ring, with his WBC and Ring Magazine belts around his shoulders.
“I promised my lovely wife Paris that would be it (after the third Deontay Wilder fight).
“But I owed it to the fans, every person in England (to fight on home soil. I have to be a man of my word – this might be it for the ‘Gypsy King.’ What a way to go out.”
Fury’s British promoter Frank Warren backed up his charge when asked about the fighter’s future in the ring, despite several other big fights on the horizon, with Fury and the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua sure to generate interest for a potential bout.
Usyk beat Joshua last September to take the WBA, IBF and WBO belts and is preparing for a rematch with Joshua after leaving his native Ukraine, where he was helping his country in the war with Russia.
“If it’s going to be the last fight it will be the last fight. That’s his decision – he’s the guy getting in the ring,” said Warren.
“And if it is his last fight, he’s gone out on such a high. Fantastic boxing and showing all the power he’s got. Unbelievable performance.”
It certainly was. The punch that ended the fight with a few seconds to go in the sixth came pretty much out of nowhere, with Fury in control of the fight without truly exerting himself.
Whyte had been starting to breathe heavier in what proved to be the final round, by which time he had a cut around his right eye — potentially from a clash of heads.
The fifth round saw Fury dominate, with a body shot and then a straight right rocking Whyte back and getting the crowd going.
“He is as strong as a bull and has the heart of a lion,” Fury said of Whyte, who was his former sparring partner from 2012-13, “but tonight he met a great in the sport, one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
“I think,” Fury added, “even Lennox Lewis would be proud of that uppercut.”
If he does retire, Fury will go down as the greatest British heavyweight, surpassing Lewis.
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