Englishman Tyson Fury has handed Deontay Wilder the first loss of his professional career, claiming the WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round technical knockout in Las Vegas.
Fight referee Kenny Bayless was recognising a request from Wilder's camp, who literally threw in the towel with their man pinned on the opposite corner and unable to defend himself against a combination from Fury.
After the fight, Wilder recognised that "the better fighter won" on the day but said he "was ready to go out on [his] shield" rather than have the fight stopped early.
Both fighters were undefeated as professionals heading into the fight at the MGM Grand Casino but only Fury left the ring with that record still intact.
His career record is now sitting at 30 wins, zero losses and one draw; while Wilder has a 42-1-1 record.
Fury had sent Wilder to the canvas with a devastating shot in the third round, with the American wobbly on his feet once he did get back up after a six or seven count.
Wilder hit the mat again in the fourth, but he had merely slipped. That was not the case in the next round, when Fury landed a furious, left-handed head-body combination that sent Wilder down again.
Bayless took a point off Fury later in the round for an infraction, meaning it was likely a 9-8 win for the Mancunian, and Wilder returned to his corner with blood coming from his mouth and left ear.
The sixth round was less eventful, but no doubt won by Fury as he pinned the struggling American against the ropes for most of the three minutes.
Wilder was barely defending himself in the seventh round when the towel was thrown into the ring.
It was a complete turnaround from their previous fight in December 2018, when Wilder knocked Fury down and seemingly out cold, only for the man dubbed the Gypsy King to bounce back to his feet and salvage a draw.
That marked the first time Wilder — who scored knockouts in 41 of his 43 fights since turning pro in 2008 — did not notch a win, while Sunday marked the first time he did not have his arm raised by the referee after a fight.
Fury won his first world title with a shock win over Ukrainian great Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015 before mental health issues lead to drug and alcohol problems and he vacated the WBO, IBF, WBA an IBO world titles.
After taking down Wilder to claim the WBC belt, Fury declared "the king has returned to the throne".
Wilder, for his part, said "even the greatest have lost and come back".
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