Fury's big punch in the 3rd that put Wilder down was near the back of the head. It was clearly thrown intended as a legitimate punch to the side of the head. The way Wilder turned, made it land toward the back of the head, inadvertently making it more damaging. Regardless, it was not a rabbit punch. It wasn't around to the actual back of the head (or more importantly to where the skull meets the neck, the real reason that punch is outlawed).
Did Fury fight rough? Yes, this is professional boxing. Did Fury fight dirty? No, I wouldn't say so. Both fighters were clinching -- Wilder more so as the fight went on. Fury wanted to land punches; Wilder wanted to tie him up. Was Fury punching Wilder with a free hand in the clinch? Yes. And so what!
I think Bayless did a decent job overall. Deducting a point from Fury seemed a little unfair, since I think it was six of one and half dozen of the other, but he did give both of them a warning before he deducted, so it wasn't completely out of the blue. They are both giant fighters and they were frequently clinching. Bayless did a decent job of staying in charge and getting in there to break it up when needs be (no mean feat) and several times also instructed them to fight out of it, so he wasn't leaning too far in the direciton of breaking up any inside fighting.
Definitely no sign of refereeing bias in Fury's favour.
Did Fury fight rough? Yes, this is professional boxing. Did Fury fight dirty? No, I wouldn't say so. Both fighters were clinching -- Wilder more so as the fight went on. Fury wanted to land punches; Wilder wanted to tie him up. Was Fury punching Wilder with a free hand in the clinch? Yes. And so what!
I think Bayless did a decent job overall. Deducting a point from Fury seemed a little unfair, since I think it was six of one and half dozen of the other, but he did give both of them a warning before he deducted, so it wasn't completely out of the blue. They are both giant fighters and they were frequently clinching. Bayless did a decent job of staying in charge and getting in there to break it up when needs be (no mean feat) and several times also instructed them to fight out of it, so he wasn't leaning too far in the direciton of breaking up any inside fighting.
Definitely no sign of refereeing bias in Fury's favour.
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