Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder rematch: American ‘can't wait’ for second fight after controversial draw

Fury and Wilder drew in Los Angeles and a potential rematch is already being discussed

Deontay Wilder admitted he can’t wait for ‘Wilder vs Fury 2’ after he successfully defended his WBC title against Tyson Fury on Saturday with the high-profile heavyweight bout ending in a controversial draw.

The hard-hitting American twice sent Fury to the canvas, the latter a big punch in the 12th round that would secure victory against most boxers, but the general consensus is that Fury won the fight.

Mexican judge Alejandro Rochin scored the contest 115-111 in favour of Wilder to allow the American to maintain his unbeaten record, but Fury, and the world of boxing, is adamant he won the fight, which paves the way for rematch to be arranged.

The winner of the fight was tipped to face Anthony Joshua in April to unify the heavyweight division, but the contentious draw means the duo are likely to meet again.

“I can’t wait for Wilder vs Fury 2 to end the controversial talk around the world once and for all!!,” Wilder said on Instagram.

Wilder also believes there is controversy surrounding the referee’s count when Fury was knocked to the floor in the final round. The referee was praised for his patience to give Fury the entire 10 seconds, but Wilder, who believed he did enough to finish the fight with that punch, suggested there may have been a delay to the start of the count.

“Did the count start 3-4 seconds too late or was the count too long is the question many are asking and debating about. The ref Jack Reiss is an amazing ref who I’ve had the pleasure of working with on several occasions. He did a great job and at the end of the day boxing wins, the fans are the real winner,” he added.

“It was an amazing fight and I wanted nothing but greatness to come from this. The fight lived up to the hype more than ever. When you put the best against the best, exciting things happen. I take nothing away from this fight but we won this fight.

“To beat the champion, you must dominate the champ and to me I was the more aggressive fighter and landed the more effective punches. You saw the best Fury but you did not see the best Wilder and I still managed to get the job done.

Tyson Fury made a near-miraculous recovery from the canvas in the final round (BT Sport)

“This event brought more pressure than I expected, I just wanted the best for boxing here in America and boxing in general which led me to get overly anxious to knock his head off so I abandoned the game plan.”

Frank Warren, Fury's promoter, is keen to stage the rematch at Wembley but would also be happy for his fighter to travel to American again. "I think it's got a good chance of coming to London. But with Tyson, he'll travel – he'll go where the money is, for March, April."