Boxer Deontay Wilder blames his defeat by Tyson Fury on ‘too-heavy’ ring walk COSTUME as he confirms he HAS demanded blockbuster rematch
- Deontay Wilder lost his WBC heavyweight title to Tyson Fury on Saturday night
- American was outclassed with his team throwing in the towel in round seven
- He claims his 45-pound ring walk outfit played a significant role in the defeat
- The former champion has also activated his rematch clause for a summer trilogy
Deontay Wilder has laughably claimed the weight of his ring walk costume played a big role in his defeat by Tyson Fury – as he confirmed he will be triggering his rematch clause.
The American wore a black and red armoured body suit with a matching mask and crown as he made his way to the squared circle for his second bout with Fury at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
However, the Bronze Bomber’s performance proved to be far less impressive than his outfit, with his team throwing in the towel in the seventh round following a totally one-sided affair.
Deontay Wilder suffered a devastating defeat to Tyson Fury in Las Vegas on Saturday night
Wilder has claimed that his 45-pound ring walk costume played a big role in his defeat
And Wilder on Monday night claimed his defeat was largely down to the 45-pound costume weakening his legs.
He told Yahoo: ‘He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is that my uniform was way too heavy for me.
‘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.
The American says the weight of the outfit weakened his legs from the start of the fight
‘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.’
Many spectators noted that Wilder did not look like his usual self from the very first round, his legs certainly failing him a number of times during the fight.
Wilder also confirmed that he will exercise his right to a trilogy fight with Fury which is expected to take place in the summer.
‘The rematch is definitely going to happen,’ he told The Athletic. ‘We’re going to get it on. I want to get right back to it.’
Fury, as the winner of the second bout, would be entitled to a 60/40 percentage split of all the money on the line for the fight, plus the earnings from PPV and ticket sales.
Fury dominated Wilder for seven rounds before the WBC champion’s team threw in the towel
And Wilder will not have former world champion Mark Breland in his corner after he was criticised for throwing in the towel during the seventh round, prompting the referee’s intervention.
Wilder, who confirmed he would remove Breland from his team, added: ‘I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional.
‘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. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.’