Deontay Wilder classes his 12th round knockdown of Tyson Fury in their first fight as a knockdown because he believes the referee didn't do the count properly.
Wilder was largely twisted up in knots by Fury in their first bout for the WBC world heavyweight title in Los Angeles in 2018, but put the Gypsy King down on the canvas twice.
The second occasion was in the final round and Wilder caught Fury clean with a brutal left hook that looked to have sent him into another dimension.
Fury's eyes rolled to the back of his head but in one of the most incredible moments in boxing history, miraculously rose from the dead like the Undertaker and got back to his feet before finishing the fight strongly.
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Wilder was already off celebrating but looked like he'd seen a ghost when Fury was resurrected.
The Bronze Bomber still counts it as a knockout, even though it isn't on paper, as he reckons ref Jack Reiss was slow with his ten count.
Speaking on Instagram Live to Marcus Watson, Wilder said: “Coldest knockouts? There’s so many.
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“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…
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“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.
“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.
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“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*** 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.”
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The bout was controversially scored a draw and in the second bout, Fury would dominate Wilder - flooring him twice before his corner threw the towel in during the seventh round to hand him a first career loss.
The Alabama fighter has regularly accused Fury of cheating in the bout, claiming he had his glove illegally loaded and tampered with.
He also stated his trainer Mark Breland, who he then sacked, spiked his water and blamed the defeat on his 40lbs Black History costume.
The rivals will meet inside the squared circle for a third time in Las Vegas this weekend, with the animosity so strong in Wednesday's night press conference that the two didn't even have the mandatory face-off.
Featured Image Credit: Image: BT SportTopics: Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury
