This past weekend, the boxing world was able to experience one of the most anticipated heavyweight fights in recent memory. After their controversial draw in Dec. 2018, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder met once again in the boxing ring to decide who is the best heavyweight. 

Unlike the first fight where it ended in a draw and was very even for all 12 rounds, this one was different. Fury came in and completely overpowered Wilder, who is considered to be the most powerful puncher in boxing history. Wilder was bleeding badly from his left ear from the third round on, also once his ear started to bleed his equilibrium was totally thrown off. 

It was getting hard to watch as Wilder didn’t have the power in his legs to throw punches back and Fury was just teeing off on Wilder. In the 7th round Wilder’s corner threw in the towel to stop the fight. Wilder wasn’t happy at all and it sparked controversy. Should they have thrown in the towel? Or should they have let him continue to get beaten and battered? 

To answer this question we must look back at 2019, a deadly year for boxing. Last year, four boxers died after their fights. Some of them were because of brutal knockouts and others were the trainers letting their fighters pride prevent them from throwing in the towel. The job of the trainer is to protect their fighter and as the fight went on it was starting to look like Drago Vs Creed. 

I asked a freshman named Phin Underwood his opinion on these boxing deaths and he said “A fighter dying in the ring is no less different than a football player dying.” We all know that boxing won’t be going away anytime soon, but there has to be some better ways to make it a bit safer. As of 26 Feb., Wilder is ok from the fight and intends to activate the rematch clause to fight Fury one more time.