Matt Gipon: A draw was a fair result in Wilder v Fury instant classic

Someone’s ‘0’ didn’t go but what a fight!

One judge had Fury winning, one went for Wilder and one gave it as a draw – which means the belt stays with the American and the rematch is inked in a diamond encrusted pen for 2019.

Everybody from the 50-year boxing veteran at ringside to the casual twitter troll following on social media knows that Fury outclassed Wilder for large parts of the bout, but it wasn’t an absolute robbery and it definitely wasn’t a fix.

The referee who scored the contest a draw was from the UK – you can address your hate mail to ‘Ref from Preston’ – and what he probably saw was a match that was close in the first four rounds and then a fight which Fury controlled, but never really looked like shutting down.

And then there’s the two knockdowns. Ok, the first in round 9 was just a slight balance-scrambler but the second, in the final session, was absolute anti-craft missile – Wilder gets points from the judges for those and Fury gets a ton of credit for taking them.

I predicted it would be an ugly brawl, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Crowd favourite Fury was scrapping on the front foot, mesmerizing with movement on the back foot, and showboating at every opportunity in between.

Don’t listen to any cynics who say the rematch is only for the money – we want and deserve a second showdown.

Fury could have pounced on a gassed Wilder when he staggered him last night and he’ll be fitter and sharper next year.

In a rematch ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has to work at a quicker pace, and after weighing-in at his lowest poundage since 2008 there’s a real chance he over-trained for this fight.

Wilder also needs to reconsider his walkout wardrobe because dressing like a crazy king crow from GoT must have been a mistake.

At the time of writing, Anthony Joshua has yet to respond through one of his official social media channels but the other heavyweight champ must be impressed with what he’s seen, even if it means his plans to unify the division are going to be postponed until at least summer.

‘The Gypsy King’ is back and now there are three credible, unbeaten candidates claiming they are the number one in boxing’s money division.

Roll on 2019!