TYSON FURY is currently the best heavyweight fighter, but it could have been so much more.
The Gypsy King made a remarkable comeback in the sport by beating Deontay Wilder February to win 2020's WBC World Title.
Fury's unbeaten record was also preserved by the American who suffered his first professional loss.
Since then, the slugger has defeated Dillian Whyte and teased his retirement from the sport.
Fury was able to keep the 0 in his losses column in 2009 when he faced John McDermott, a slugger.
Fury, who blitzed seven of his opponents in record time, was hailed as one of the best British boxers.
His team decided to take on McDermott and win the English title.
McDermott came into the fight having suffered two defeats against Danny Williams. However, his 30-fight record contained many KOs which would prove to be a test for the new golden boy.
While neither boxer was stopped, McDermott seemed to have put an end to Fury's blossoming career by winning a series of messy points.
This was not a great performance. McDermott bullied Fury, the 1/6 favorite on the night. Fury was left relying only on distant flurries.
Fury's side was heard telling Fury that he was in the back on points and needed to finish at the grandstand. That never happened.
Referee Terry O'Connor saw the situation differently and scored Fury 98-92.
McDermott's promoter, Frank Maloney (now Kellie Maloney), slammed O'Connor as "disgraceful boxing".
Kevin Mitchell, Guardian writer, was blunt in his assessment of the outcome. He said that he could not recall a worse sport decision.
He stated that Fury "got away" with "a robbery on the highway variety" while the boxing community was "outraged at the decision".
Jim Watt, the boxing legend, was commentating on Sky Sports's match. McDermott won by two rounds to McDermott, with Fury coming in close after winning two of the last two.
McDermott looked a bit shattered as he did his post-fight interview on ringside.
He replied, "What do I have to do to win it?" He's a gentle man, I'm nice and he has the big mouth. I've been punished for it."
Fury, then 21 years old, stated that he believed he had won the fight and that he would have retired if he lost it.
It was inevitable that the rematch would be held. As luck would have it, Fury returned a year later as a completely different animal and defeated McDermott three times in the ninth round.
McDermott claimed Tyson's father John had admitted to him that Tyson "lost the fight".
Sky Sports spoke to Basildon's ex-boxer who said that he still finds it annoying.
He stated that although he didn't say he would have fought for the title, it would have been a great help to him at the time.
"A little more money than there was in boxing. He's now a millionaire, and I'm still struggling.
They thought it would be easy to fight. They thought I couldn't dig deep.
"I can remember walking up to the punchbag and my trainer drawn a line at 6'9". He said, 'This Tyson Fury'. "I remember thinking, "How can I hit this bloke?"
"I thought that the judges were scoring it. People were booing Fury and I saw Fury being held up by the referee. It's madness. I don't know how it happened. He scored it 8-2.
McDermott was 42 years old after the rematch. He only had four fights left before he retired with a win against Matt Skelton in 2013.
Fury, 33, has since completed a fairytale, and is now undisputed heavyweight king.
However, things could have turned out quite differently if the 2009 contentious result had been reversed.
