WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder brought his formidable punching power to the party during the closing stages of his title showdown with Tyson Fury in Los Angeles.

Wilder floored Fury in round nine and again, heavily, in the final session – key moments in the fight that were enough for the undefeated American to salvage a draw.

But despite those knockdowns, Fury controlled large chunks of the contest with an elusive and tactically astute display, with many observers believing the Briton was cruelly denied a second world-title triumph.

As such, the scorecards returned by the ringside judges have come in for considerable scrutiny. Canada's Robert Tapper had the bout 114-112 to Fury, while British judge Phil Edwards had it dead even at 113-113.

Mexico's Alejandro Rochin saw it, somewhat implausibly, 115-111 to Wilder. Here, we examine how the judges arrived at boxing's latest disputed decision.

Here is your Wilder-Fury scorecard. The first half of the fight is a mess. pic.twitter.com/2nKIiF8DvB

— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) December 2, 2018

Strong start from Fury – or was it?

Revisiting the playbook that helped him to befuddle Wladimir Klitschko and claim the unified heavyweight crown three years ago, Fury established his jab, slithered out of range and landed the cleaner shots early on. He was soon mocking a crude Wilder.

A closer inspection of the scorecards reveal this is where the controversy lies. Tapper and Edwards scored rounds two through to four for Fury, having each awarded the opener to Wilder. Rochin, however, was almost entirely at odds with his colleagues as he called the first four to be a Wilder clean sweep.

Fight slipping away from Wilder until he makes his power tell

Rochin belatedly got on board with Fury's impressive work, giving him rounds five through to seven, although Tapper awarded the seventh to Wilder. Edwards was even more generous to the champion, granting him six and seven.

Edwards and Tapper saw eight for Fury, with Rochin again disagreeing. Heading into a round nine, Fury was leading 78-74 on Tapper's card and 77-75 on Edwards's, with Rochin having the latter margin in Wilder's favour.

It was then that the champion landed chopping shots to Fury's head, leaving his foe crumpled on the canvas. The visitor responded well but the knockdown meant 10-8 scores to Wilder all-round and a fight back in the balance.

.@BronzeBomber knocks down Fury and he's back up! #WilderFury pic.twitter.com/XRdc6FdxYL

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 2, 2018

Fury's resilience catches the eye

Over the final three rounds, the judges belatedly found consensus. Fury was back to his quicksilver boxing in a wonderfully impressive round 10, shaking off the damage sustained in the previous session.

Round 11 stood as the calm before the storm but that and the 10th were unanimously given as Fury rounds.

Of course, in the final stanza, Wilder's sledgehammer blows left Fury flat on his back and seemingly out for the count. A stunning recovery meant he heard the final bell and thrust an uncomfortable spotlight upon Messrs Tapper, Edwards and Rochin.