Deontay Wilder had a hard time figuring out Tyson Fury for most of the fight despite knocking him down twice.

The heavyweight showdown between WBC champion Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) and former lineal champion Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) ended in a draw, but they both came into the fight with a rematch clause on their contracts. It was Fury’s slick movement and counterpunching up against Wilder’s bombs away punch style in a wild and epic fight.

Both fighters opened the fight feeling each other out and it was clear that Wilder was looking for a knockout early on with his violent swinging. Fury showcased his defense as he was ready to slip whenever Wilder unloaded his punches. Fury landed a good left hook to Wilder’s body, then a solid right hand with about six seconds left in the first round.

It was Fury who controlled most of the fight through the first half behind his slipping and jabbing. Wilder continuously threw heavy blows, but Fury’s movement had him missing wildly. Fury picked up the pace midway through the seventh round as he landed a hard left hook and followed up with a one-two combination that stopped Wilder in his tracks momentarily.

Wilder tried to answer back by furiously throwing one right hook, followed by another; but Fury avoided the incoming punches. Fury landed the right hand again with about 33 seconds left in the round. In round eight, Fury stuck with the one-two combo and landed yet another hard right that caught Wilder’s attention.

Then in the ninth round, Wilder finally found his own right hand as he landed one after the other. He then caught Fury with a left hook, followed by another right hand, dropping Fury with about two minutes still left in the round. Wilder continued to swing away and Fury continued to slip.

Fury slowed down Wilder’s stalking with a counter left hook. He then tagged Wilder with a jab and left hook to the body with less than a minute left in the round. In the last 30 seconds of the round, Wilder appeared to have gassed himself out.

Fury began the tenth round pressing forward and hit Wilder with a hard left uppercut, followed by a right hand. With about 10 seconds left in the round, he then landed a solid one-two combo. Wilder appeared to have grown frustrated, as he swung furiously with six seconds left in the round; but was unable to find Fury.

In the twelfth round Fury landed a right hand, but WIlder countered with his own hard right, followed by a left hook. Fury appeared to be out cold as he fell to his back with his head leaned against the canvas. Referee Jack Reiss then proceeded to give Fury a count of 10, to which Fury shockingly beat and got up to his feet.

Wilder landed another left hook with about two minutes left in the round. But Fury, who had shown tremendous heart throughout the fight, caught Wilder with his own left hook; followed by another with about a minute to go. Fury looked to bring the fight to Wilder, as he pressed forward and unloaded a combination with Wilder against the ropes. As the final bell rang, Fury ran to his corner and jumped onto the ropes with both of his fists raised.

Judge Alejandro Rochin, of Mexico, scored the fight 115-111 for Wilder. Judege Robert Tapper, of Canada, scored it 114-110 for Fury. And judge Phil Edwards, of England, scored the contest 113-113; making the official decision a split decision draw. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Wilder landed 71 out of 430 total punches (17%), compared to Fury’s 84 of 327 total punches (26%).