[8] Fury's performance gained widespread praise; it was hailed as "sensational" and one of the most impressive displays from a heavyweight title bout in recent years.
Fury followed this stoppage win with a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Otto Wallin (20–0, 13 KOs) on September 14, 2019.
[12] Both Fury and Wilder called each other out after their fights, and the rematch was officially announced on December 27, 2019, for February 22, 2020 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
[15] Guaranteed base purses Due to the fighters' respective television rights being held by the two networks, it was announced that the United States pay-per-view of the fight would be a joint presentation of ESPN (Top Rank rightsholder) and Fox Sports (PBC rightsholder).
[17] Both networks aired promos for the event during flagship sports telecasts, including the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship and Super Bowl LIV.
Top Rank owner Bob Arum stated that there were provisional plans for a six-match preliminary undercard that would be split between Top Rank and PBC, with separate telecasts on an ESPN network and a Fox Sports network to air their respective half of the card.
[22] BT Sport sub-licensed shoulder content to ITV, including a rematch between Brad Foster and Lucien Reid from York Hall for the BBBoC super-bantamweight title on the night of the event.
Wilder beat the count and survived the round but was visibly disoriented, as blood began to stream from his left ear.
The fight was stopped midway through the seventh round after a flurry of hard-hitting shots from Fury caused Wilder's corner to throw in the towel to save him from further punishment.
Wilder initially considered firing Breland, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion, but decided to keep him on the team.
[55] Wilder attributed his defeat to factors including his water "being spiked as if I took a muscle relaxer", his ring-walk costume being "way too heavy for me... it weighed 40lb with the helmet and all the batteries", and that Fury had "scratched flesh out of my ears which caused them to bleed".
[58][59] Despite the widespread criticism of Wilder's allegations, for which he provided no credible evidence to support, he did not back down; on October 31, 2020, he issued a series of statements on social media continuing to accuse Fury of cheating, as well as asking for a trilogy bout.
[63] Commentators noted that Wilder had said in a 2018 interview with Joe Rogan that he wears a 45 lb weight vest while training, which cast further doubt over the outfit excuse.
Wilder announced on February 29 that he had activated the clause, and vowed redemption in a video posted on his social media accounts, "We will rise again.
[55] In October 2020, Tyson Fury confirmed claims that he would no longer fight Wilder a third time, citing difficulties in contractual negotiations in finding a suitable date for the bout to take place.
[71] Wilder's manager Shelly Finkel rejected those claims and stated that the bout would take place in December 2020,[72] which was later called off for lack of interest from broadcasters, Fox and ESPN, in light of College Football season unexpectedly returning to action the same month.
[1] A third fight between the two was booked on May 23, 2021, and was scheduled to happen in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24, 2021, but was postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Fury group.