Wilder Blames 45-Pound Costume For TKO Loss To Fury

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder last Saturday night (Feb. 22, 2020) in a lopsided rout, scoring a seventh round technical knockout win over “Bronze Bomber” in Las Vegas, Nevada, to win the WBC and (vacant) The Ring Heavyweight titles. It was a convincing and fulfilling win for Fury, who fought to a split draw against Wilder in their first meeting back in 2018.

And while many were expecting Fury to next face off against current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, it appears that fight fans will first get a trilogy match against Wilder instead. That’s according to Kevin Iole, who revealed that Wilder has triggered the rematch clause that was in their respective contracts prior to last Saturday’s fight.

Meanwhile, Wilder may have provided fight fans with one of the most bizarre excuses for losing a fight, claiming that his legs were weakened after walking down the aisle wearing an extravagant 45-pound costume.

No, seriously.

“He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is ... that my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder said. “I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight. In the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through. But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior. It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything. A lot of people were telling me, ‘It looked like something was wrong with you.’ Something was, but when you’re in the ring, you have to bluff a lot of things. I tried my best to do so. I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.

“I was only able to put it on [for the first time] the night before, but I didn’t think it was going to be that heavy,” he added. “It weighed 40, 40-some pounds with the helmet and all the batteries. I wanted my tribute to be great for Black History Month. I wanted it to be good and I guess I put that before anything.”

Not only did his walkout gear weigh 45 pounds, but it set him back a cool $40,000.

Wilder also took aim at his trainer, Mark Breland, for throwing in the towel and not giving him the opportunity to fight his way out of danger.

As a result, Breland will no longer be a part of his corner team moving forward.

“I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional,” Wilder said. “It is not an emotional thing, it’s a principal thing. We’ve talked about this situation many, many years before this even happened. I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principal of receiving.

“So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind,” he continued. “I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.”

And while Wilder does acknowledge that perhaps Breland was just keeping his best interests and health in mind, at the end of the day, “Bronze Bomber” has his own combat code.

“I understand he was looking out for me and trying to do what he felt was right, but this is my life and my career and he has to accept my wishes,” Wilder said. But the big man didn’t stop there, slamming referee Kenny Bayless for not properly doing his job after Fury allegedly hit him with several illegal shots to the back of the head.

Wilder also has harsh words for referee Kenny Bayless, alleging Bayless declined to effectively confront Fury over a slew of punches to the back of Wilder's head and neck after telling Wilder he would disqualify him if he did the same in pre-fight dressing room.

— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) February 24, 2020

A trilogy fight between the heavy-handed pugilists will likely be a box office success, with the only downside being that a much-anticipated showdown between Fury and Joshua (or even Wilder vs. Joshua) will be postponed, yet again.

When the third fight does get booked, perhaps Wilder will consider taking a page out of Fury’s book, as “Gypsy King” was wisely rolled to the ring on a throne, leaving him with fresh legs — and no excuses — for the big showdown.

Just a thought.

For complete ‘Fury vs. Wilder 2’ results and coverage click here.

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