Deontay Wilder held his hands up and said that his best 'wasn't good enough' after being beaten by Tyson Fury.
The 'Gypsy King' retained his world heavyweight title belts in a sensational Las Vegas fight, bringing an end to the trilogy with the American boxer.
Fury was knocked down twice but came back strongly, felling Wilder four times and eventually beating him via an 11th-round stoppage.
Wilder said post-fight : “I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough tonight. I’m not sure what happened. I know that in training he did certain things, and I also knew that he didn’t come in at 277 pounds to be a ballet dancer. He came to lean on me, try to rough me up and he succeeded.”
With Anthony Joshua being defeated by Oleskandr Usyk, Fury knew he needed to focus on his own task and he certainly did.
Both men hit the canvas during the fight, with Wilder going down first in the third round after a neat right hand with 20 seconds and counting in the stanza.
The American recovered during the minute break, dropping Fury in stunning fashion in the fourth before scoring a second knockdown late on.
But Fury recovered and the fight continued to be a mesmerising duel, with Fury largely having the better of the exchanges.
Then despite Wilder's menacing right hand still lurking, the Briton dropped his man again in the tenth with a crisp shot that started the onslaught.
And the 33-year-old champion achieved his second stoppage victory over Wilder, with a picture-perfect right hand to end the contest.
With history made once again, the undefeated king reflected on his ability to "deliver" once again on the biggest of occasions.
"Like the great John Wayne said, Iron and steel baby," Fury said post-fight. "I give him the glory for the victory. He’s a tough man. He took some big shots tonight. It was a great fight, as good as any trilogy in history.
"I beat him three times and I’m a sportsman and wanted to give him some love and respect. And he didn’t want to give it back. That's his problem and I pray for him.
"This was a great fight and October 9, 2021 will go down in history, I hope. I always said I was the best in the world and he was the second best. Don’t ever doubt me. When the chips are down, I will always deliver.
"And I want to say if it wasn’t for Sugar (Hill), America's and Detroit's own, I wouldn’t have gotten through that fight tonight... He told me, he said get your jab working, big guy, and throw that right hand down the middle. That's how the big dogs do it."
Fury now looks set to face domestic rival Dillian Whyte in his next contest, after the WBC enforced his mandatory challenge.
And Wilder now faces a return to the drawing board, after his quest against Fury ended empty-handed.
