Ahead of his rematch with Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury said he wanted to taste blood in the fight. At the time, he was talking about the possibility of a cut suffered in his win over Otto Wallin reopening against Wilder. During his dominant performance, which culminated in a seventh-round stoppage victory for Fury, the lineal heavyweight champion called an audible and instead tasted the blood of his opponent.
Wilder had been bleeding from the mouth as well as from his ear -- likely the result of a ruptured ear drum -- for several rounds when, in Round 6, Fury leaned down and licked the blood running down the then-WBC champion's neck while against the ropes.
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😛@Tyson_Fury #WilderFury2 pic.twitter.com/0mT41Wl7DY
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) February 23, 2020
Tyson Fury licked Deontay Wilder's neck 😮
— ESPN (@espn) February 23, 2020
Stream #WilderFury2 on ESPN+ ▶️ https://t.co/mqDaw58TJa pic.twitter.com/DfriGkwcSR
Fury has had no shortage of iconic moments in his career, ranging from his incredible rise from a seemingly fight-ending Round 12 knockdown in his first fight with Wilder to a viral meme that emerged after he managed to hit himself in the face with an uppercut.
Licking the blood of his opponent mid-fight in arguably the biggest heavyweight fight of the modern era, though? That ranks high on the list of Fury's all-time moments.