BOXING Heavyweights Wilder, Fury fight to draw

Fury survives two falls, earns draw with Wilder

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fought to a split draw Saturday night, with Wilder retaining his WBC heavyweight title after knocking down his British challenger twice.

Wilder (40-0-1) floored Fury (270-1) in the ninth and 12th rounds, yet Fury clearly outboxed Wilder for large portions of the remainder of their entertaining showdown. Fury looked finished when Wilder put him flat on his back with two minutes left in the fight, but he rose and made it to the bell.

Judge Robert Tapper scored the fight 114-112 for Fury, while Alejandro Rochin favored Wilder 115-111. Judge Phil Edwards and The Associated Press both scored it a 113-113 draw, with Wilder’s knockdowns compensating for Fury’s superior technique.

Both men weren’t overly upset by the verdict after a compelling bout in front of a frenzied Hollywood crowd.

Gvozdyk KOs Stevenson

In Quebec City, Oleksandr Gvozdyk dethroned Adonis Stevenson — boxing’s longest reigning champion at 5½ years — with a devastating 11th round knockout to capture the WBC lightheavyweight championship.

Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KOs) used a powerful multi-punch combination in the penultimate round to put the back-and-forth bout out of question. The former Olympic bronze medalist and amateur teammate of fellow Ukrainians Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk was impressive throughout the entire fight.

Stevenson (29-2-1, 24 KOs), who was making his 10th title defense, was able to land his signature left hand on several occasions, most notably in the tenth round, but never did enough to truly trouble his opponent.

“This win means everything to me. I’ve trained my whole life for this and tonight all of the hard work was worth it,” said Gvozdyk, who was the mandatory challenger for Stevenson. “Having Teddy (Atlas) in my corner was a huge help. He knew exactly what to say to me. We trained so well for this fight and I knew I was going to get the knockout.

“Adonis was a great champion but it’s my time now. He got me with a good shot in the 10th round but I handled it and finished him. Right now, I just want to rest before I discuss my next step. I definitely want to stay at 175 pounds.”

Stevenson was transported to a local hospital as precautionary measure and was unavailable for comment following the fight.