Tyson Fury captivated 94,000 fans in his home country on Saturday with a brutal sixth-round knockout to finish Dillian Whyte in what may be the final bout of his legendary career.
With Wembley Stadium filled to the brim, Fury put on a showcase over the course of his fight as he frustrated Whyte in nearly every exchange while never really taking a single big shot all night. In return, Fury was deadly with his jab before unleashing the uppercut that put Whyte down and out for good.
The stoppage came at 2:59 in the sixth round. “We was touching him with the jab,” Fury said when detailing the finishing sequence. “I wanted to keep going downstairs with the hooks to the body. The right timing was going to bring the right uppercut straight through the middle. It landed like a peach. Bang on the chin. I knew it was over.
“Dillian Whyte is a warrior. I believe Dillian will be a world champion and a great in the sport but I’m one of the greatest heavyweights of all time and unfortunately for Dillian Whyte, he had to face me here tonight.”
In a surprising move to start the fight, Whyte actually came out in a southpaw stance, perhaps in an attempt to throw Fury off his game but that also left him open for the right hands coming from ‘The Gypsy King.’ Fury was content pawing early with some long jabs while Whyte was looking to go after the body as he swung with power from both sides.
Whyte eventually went back to orthodox but that didn’t really help his cause all that much because Fury was just too quick defensively to get caught with his haymakers. While Whyte was constantly looking for one punch to do damage, Fury was peppering him with short hooks and the same long jab that’s paid dividends his entire career.
As time passed, Fury was getting even more active with his punches and Whyte was seemingly frustrated by his inability to really land with power on any of his biggest shots. Even when Whyte did manage a decent body shot, Fury responded and never allowed his opponent to really put together combinations.
Things started to get ugly in the fourth round after a clash of heads opened a cut over White’s eyebrow, which then led to several more chippy exchanges. The fighters even managed to trade shots to the back of the head in the corner with the referee failing to intervene and pulling the fighters apart.
Once the waters calmed, Fury just continued to prove he was the better boxer with well-timed punches, chipping away at the No. 1 WBC contender. Whyte couldn’t get inside and when he eventually just started walking forward, Fury made him pay.
That’s when Fury snapped off the right uppercut that blasted Whyte and put him down on the canvas. Whyte attempted to get back to his feet but as he wobbled and fell into the referee’s arms, the fight was immediately called off.
Fury celebrated as his record moved to 32-0-1 for his career while picking up a third straight knockout win after a pair of finishes against Deontay Wilder in their trilogy.