Tyson Fury reacts to win over Deontay Wilder
Despite knocking down Fury twice when the fighters came toe to toe in Las Vegas two weekends ago, the Bronze Bomber suffered a devastating knockout in the 11th round, failing in his bid to reclaim the WBC title. Just moments after Fury retained his WBC belt and lineal status, the Mancunion sought to end animosity by venturing to Wilder’s corner to embrace him, only for the defeated boxer to rebuff the gesture. Bloodied on his stool, Wilder was caught telling Fury: “I won’t respect you, I won’t respect you. I will never respect you.”
On Friday, however, Wilder released a statement via his social media congratulating Tyson Fury for his victory and thanking him “for the great historical memories that will last forever.”
He added: “Hopefully we prove that no matter how hard you get hit with trials and tribulations you can always pick yourself up to live and fight again for what you believe in.”
It was a change of tack from Wilder’s response to his previous defeat to the Gypsy King in February 2020, when the Bronze Bomber was knocked out in the seventh round by a relentless Fury.
At the time, Wilder gave a number of strange excuses as to why he had suffered the first defeat of his 44-fight career in such devastating fashion.
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Deontay Wilder gave a number of strange excuses after his seventh round knockout loss in 2020 (Image: Getty)
Fury managed an 11th round knock out in the pairs third bout (Image: Getty)
The fighter claimed his water was spiked by trainer Mark Breland and said he “started feeling weird” after taking a drink.
He told 78 Sports TV: “My water was spiked as if I took muscle relaxer or something like that.
“This feeling right here, it was a different feeling ‒ it’s like I had no control over my body, my legs [were] weak and stuff like that.”
He added that Breland was the only one who handled his water that night and that he was part of a conspiracy that had “plotted and planned” for him to lose.
This year’s fight saw Wilder ultimately congratulate his heavyweight rival (Image: Getty)
His second excuse, which was posted on Wilder’s Twitter, was that Fury had tampered with his gloves.
Despite a member of Wilder’s team having been in Fury’s locker room while the fighter was getting his hands wrapped, Wilder said: “I saw in the first fight when Ricky Hatton was pulling down your gloves to put your hand in the improper position.
“You tried the same method the second time, but this time, you scratched flesh out of my ears which caused my ears to bleed.
He added: “I highly believe you put something hard in your glove, something the size and the shape of an egg weight.
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Wilder blamed his trainer for throwing in the towel and claimed he spiked his water (Image: Getty)
“It’s the reason why the side of my face swelled up in an egg weight form and it left a dent in my face as well.”
Having already accused his trainer of spiking his water, Wilder also suggested that Breland had betrayed him after his corner threw in the towel.
Breland told World Boxing News that he had no regrets and was concerned for his fighter after blood was gushing from his ears and his legs were gone.
However Wilder made the claim that Breland was “influenced” by Fury’s camp.
Wilder also suggested the suit he wore for his ring entrance was too heavy (Image: Getty)
He said: “I believe he was part of it [the conspiracy].
“We had people of Fury’s team yelling ‘throw the towel’ and you got a rematch.”
Wilder, who is known for his eccentric costumes during his ring walks, also suggested that a reason for the defeat was the 18-kilo suit he wore before his fight with Fury.
In an interview with Yahoo’s Kevin Iole, Fury said: “He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is, Kevin, that my uniform was too heavy for me.
Wilder claimed the referee had favoured Fury throughout the fight (Image: Getty)
“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.”
An excuse that is less outlandish than the previous four, is that he had suffered an injury to his bicep ahead of the fight with Fury.
Wilder subsequently received surgery on his left bicep and claimed the injury was aggravated during his bout with the Gypsy King.
He told the PBC podcast in April 2020: “Recovery is going well, I’m in therapy.
“I ended up injuring [my arm] during my last fight somewhere up in there.”
Wilder’s final excuse was that referee Kenny Bayless favoured the Gypsy King and allowed Fury to get away with cheating, even though the Mancunion was deducted a point in the fifth round.
He told the Athletic in the wake of the defeat: “Bayless had come in my dressing room, looked in my eyes and said if I hit Fury in the back of the head ‒ a rabbit punch ‒ or hit off of the break, he would disqualify me or deduct two points from me.
“I guess the rules just applied to me because they didn’t apply to my opponent.
“(Fury) hit me in the back of the neck and the head all night and Bayless didn’t do anything about it, to the point I got lumps and bruises.”
