Tyson Fury confirmed his status as one of sport's great entertainers and the greatest heavyweight of his generation with a savage beatdown of Deontay Wilder in their heavyweight rematch.
Fury (30-0-1) won by seventh round TKO - after Wilder's corner threw in the towel - to win the WBC title and retain the lineal championship.
And he did it with ease. "The king has returned," Fury said.
From dancing pre-fight in the changerooms, to entering the arena dressed as a king on an Egyptian-style litter and capping his victory by singing American Pie to the crowd, Fury was remarkably relaxed as he faced a man rated as one of the hardest punchers in history.
He started the fight on the front foot and began dominating Wilder, before knocking him down with a right hand in the third.
From there it was one-way traffic as a wobbly Wilder needed all of his energy to remain upright and barely landed a punch.
His corner had seen enough after he was pinned in the corner in the seventh round and despite Wilder's protests it seemed a smart decision.
It was the first loss for Wilder in 44 fights, and it came in the 11th defence of the title he won in 2015.
"The best man won tonight, I make no excuses ... but I wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield, I'm a warrior," Wilder said.
Tyson Fury knocks down Deontay Wilder. Picture: Al Bello/Getty Images
The Gypsy King reigns. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Still undefeated. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)
It was one-way traffic. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
The one-sided nature of the fight left no doubt about who was the better man after they fought out a controversial draw in late 2018.
Fury had the upperhand for most of that fight too - although he didn't do as much damage - before being floored with a hellacious punch in the final round and needing a miraculous recovery to escape a KO.
Wilder reportedly has a rematch clause but a trilogy bout can hopefully wait until Fury meets fellow Brit Anthony Joshua in what would be a huge spectacle in the UK and allow one of them to unite every belt in the division.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn offered hope to boxing fans by reacting to Fury's win with this tweet: "No need for a third let’s go straight to it in the Summer! #undisputed."
Updates
Wilder-Fury II: Round by round
R1: Fury lives up to his word and begins the fight on the front foot. Backing Wilder up for most of the round. Wilder landed the first solid punch of the fight – a right hand – but outside of a couple of jabs it was Fury making the running. He punctuated a promising round with a solid jab and grabbed the lead. Fury 10-9
R2: Better round from Wilder has he found a home for his right hand on three or four occasions. None of the shots were particularly heavy but he looks more ready to engage and not let Fury build a big points lead again this time. Tough round to call but most have it for Fury still because he was slightly busier. 20-18
R3: Fury growing in confidence and starting to load up on his punches. Wilder is down! Fury explodes, knocking the WBC titleholder to the canvas and splitting open his lip with left hook-right hand combo. Wilder wobbles again later in the round and is down again. That's a 10-8 round. Fury 30-26
R4: Wilder down again early in the fourth but it's ruled a slip. Fury is draining his opponent by using his bulk to lean on him and it's another strong round for the challenger. Wilder has his legs back enough to throw a few punches at the end of the round but it's looking grim. Fury 40-35
R5: Wilder down again! This time from a left hand bodyshot. He looks very unstable and Fury smells blood. But he's docked a point for pushing and shoving. The pause allows Wilder to finish the round. There's speculation Wilder has a busted ear drum because he's bleeding from his ear. Another 10-8 for the Gypsy King. Fury 49-43
R6: Wilder is earning some new fans with his toughness. Plenty of fighters would have quit by now. Fury? He's licking the blood off his opponent's neck and having the time of his life. Fury 59-52
R7: Fury wins! Wilder is backed up in the corner and hit with a big right hand. He's not throwing back and the referee steps in. He protests, but his corner was ready to throw in the towel. The Gypsy King wins!
Wilder honours Black History Month
Deontay Wilder is honouring his African-American heritage by wearing all black – shorts, jacket, mask … the lot.
What do you do to ensure you get the victory tonight? "Knock him out. Knock. Him. Out."
Final word from Wilder
"If he (Fury) gets back up again, I'm going to put him straight back down. (The plan is) to knock him out in devastating fashion. I don't get paid for overtime."
Heavyweight legends in the ring
As we wait for Wilder and Fury to make their ring walks, heavyweight legends Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson are being honoured in the ring.
Huge cheers for all three but Iron Mike clearly got the biggest pop.
Do not approach Mike Tyson with a camera phone
This is former NFL player Chad Ochocinco, who now works for Bleacher Report, saying hello backstage to Mike Tyson with a cameraman in tow.
It almost got ugly.
Chad met up with Mike Tyson before #WilderFury2, and Tyson had to make sure our camera guy was cool 😳 @br_betting
The final bout before the main dance was over inside six rounds after former IBF heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin knocked out Gerald Washington.
You may remember Martin for his forgettable defence against Anthony Joshua in 2016.
Since then he's survived a shooting and lost another fight, but is now on a three-fight winning streak after dropping Washington with an overhand left on the chin.
'Horrid' undercard testing viewers
Two one-sided fights to open the main card tested the patience of more than one boxing pundit.
The promoters did a lot of things right on this show. This horrid undercard is not one of them.
I’m genuinely baffled that boxing hasn’t learned from MMA about promoting undercards. I’m at a party where everyone is so hyped up for Wilder-Fury, but not knowing about the undercard fighters just drains the energy from the room
