Tyson Fury was given every chance by the referee on Saturday night.
The judges have been widely criticised for delivering a split draw verdict after a performance from Fury which most felt warranted a changing of hands for the WBC heavyweight title.
But referee Jack Reiss has earned plenty of praise for his willingness to give Fury the chance to fight his way out of trouble after his 12th round knockdown at the hands of Deontay Wilder.
Wilder was not happy about the fact that Reiss didn’t rush to count Fury out but ‘The Gypsy King’ has explained how the veteran official stayed true to his pre-fight promise.
“How I got back up, I really don’t know,” Fury said on Sunday morning.
“I was sound asleep on the floor. All of a sudden, I opened my eyes and I jumped up.
“But he had said to me [before the fight], he said to me, ‘if you get knocked down, I won’t stop the fight.’ He said, ‘I’ll tell you to step to the left and step to the right and if you can do and you tell me you’re alright then I won’t stop the fight.’
“And then when he asked me if I was alright, I said ‘yes.’ He told me to go the left, I went to the left. He told me to go to the right, I went to the right.
“He also said, being the most experienced referee in America, he said, ‘if you’re not capable, then I’ll stop the fight. But if you can continue….'”
Fury was obviously more than able to continue and less than a minute after lying motionless on the canvas, he returned to his showboating ways and put his hands behind his back in a bid to goad Wilder into overcommitting when most hurt fighters would have simply been in survival mode.
