Deontay Wilder has claimed he won his first fight with Tyson Fury and called his 12th round punch one of the best 'knockouts' of his entire career.
Wilder sent Fury crashing to the canvas in the twelfth round of their WBC heavyweight title clash back in 2018, but the Brit remarkably got to his feet.
The contest ended in a controversial draw and three-and-a-half years on, Wilder still clings on to it as a victory.
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When asked about his best knockouts during an Instagram Live, Wilder remarked: "Coldest knockouts? There’s so many.
"I’m gonna give you the ones that pop out in my mind. Bermane Stiverne II – I transformed, I had an outer experience with him. It was so crazy.
"Artur Szpilka, Szpilka was another one.
"And the 12th round knockout of Fury, because I definitely knocked his ass out. I won that fight hands down.
"Not only with me knocking him out and the ref giving him more time because he felt like it would be the right thing to do because of the type of fight that it was.
"It was a highly anticipated fight, had a lot on the line and sometimes these referees go out of their character feeling like, ‘I’mma do what’s best for the sport,’ instead of what is in the rules."
Wilder is adamant referee Jack Reiss should've called the fight off before Fury's Undertaker-esque rise from the grave.
'The Bronze Bomber' would lose the rematch to Fury in 2020 as well as the trilogy bout last. October.
He continued: "I definitely knocked him out. The referee was Jack Reiss and if you go back and look at any of his fights, he stops a lot of fights early.
"Sometimes they don’t even get to get up and he’s waving it off.
"When I knocked Fury out I literally seen it with my own self, that’s one of the reasons why I was so surprised.
"Not only with the count, but I seen this man’s eyes rolled back into his head, that’s how this s**t was.
"I seen his veins popping out his head and I knew he had a concussion. He was gone, that’s a wave off, period."
Wilder hasn't fought since his second loss to Fury but has declared he will be returning to the ring.
Fury, meanwhile, successfully defended his title against Dillian Whyte in April then claimed he'd be retiring from boxing.
It remains to be seen how long the 'Gypsy King' sticks to his word for.
Topics: Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury
Daniel Marland