Tyson Fury dropped Deontay Wilder three times en route to stopping the former WBC titleholder in the 11th round of an entertaining heavyweight slugfest, but the defending Ring Magazine/WBC champ had to dig deep and get up from two knockdowns of his own to the thrill and delight of a packed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) won his trilogy and legitimate grudge match against Wilder with better activity and footwork, constant mauling on the inside, but most of all with a lot of guts. The 33-year-old native of Manchester, England took his share of monster punches from Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs), who showed more heart than his vaunted power punching, which seemed a bit slower than usual, perhaps due to the added upper-body muscle he put on for this fight.

The 35-year-old native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama started well, jabbing to the body in Rounds 1 and 2, before dropping Fury in Round 3. Wilder weathered Fury’s aggression in Round 4 and blasted him to the canvas twice with big right hands before the bell. Fury, however, landed a good one-two combination just before the bell.

From that point on, Wilder remained game and a threat but was often teetering about the ring from Fury’s clean punches when he wasn’t being leaned and banged on when in close. Fury had the edge in Rounds 6-9 but Wilder kept the atmosphere intense by punching back with gusto. The sloppy but entertaining slugging had the crowd on their feet.

However, the end seemed near when Fury dropped Wilder with a right cross to the ear in Round 10. Referee Russell Mora waved the bout off without a count when Fury dropped battered and bloddy Wilder in Round 11.

A full, detailed ringside report from Dan Rafael will be posted shortly.

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