Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez claims Deontay Wilder lost his trilogy bout against ‘great fighter’ Tyson Fury because ‘he doesn’t know how to move his head’
- Deontay Wilder lost a second straight fight against WBC champion Tyson Fury
- Wilder was knocked out in the 11th round of their trilogy bout in Las Vegas
- The American had posted videos of him trying new techniques ahead of fight
- But Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez claims a lack of head movement was his undoing
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez believes a lack of head movement and conditioning contributed to Deontay Wilder’s downfall against Tyson Fury in their trilogy bout.
Fury defended his WBC title after knocking the American out in the 11th round in a thrilling encounter at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at the weekend.
The Gypsy King was himself knocked to the canvas twice in the fourth round but bounced back to maul the Bronze Bomber for the majority of the rest of the fight.
A lack of head movement and conditioning cost Deontay Wilder (left) against Tyson Fury, according to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
The Gypsy King retained his WBC crown after knocking the American out in the 11th round
And unified super-middleweight champion Alvarez believes Wilder’s failure to move his head was his undoing, while also insisting an improvement is needed when it comes to his conditioning.
‘Great fight, great fight,’ Mexican Canelo told the Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer.
‘I think Wilder needs more condition, more moves. He doesn’t know how to move the head. It is difficult when you don’t have that condition and you don’t know how to move.
‘That is why Tyson Fury beat him. Tyson Fury is a great fighter.’
Wilder had been seen practicing his head movement during videos posted ahead of the fight
But unified super-middleweight champion Alvarez believes that was insufficient
In training videos ahead of the fight, Wilder was seen working on new techniques – including honing bodywork with more head movements and working underwater – having changed up his training team heading into the Las Vegas showdown.
Despite relentless preparation with new coach Malik Scott over the past few months, the Bronze Bomber came unstuck against Fury once more in a much-improved performance to the one he delivered in February last year.
But trainer Scott said Wilder – who has subsequently been hit with a six-month medical suspension – has no plans on retiring, stating: ‘Deontay has set his family financially secure so he doesn’t have to fight to make a living.
‘But retiring is not in his plans at all and not something we’ve discussed.’
Wilder himself added after the fight: ‘I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough tonight. I’m not sure what happened.
Fury was knocked down twice but bounced back to dominate most of the rest of the fight
‘I know that in training he did certain things, and I also knew that he didn’t come in at 277 pounds to be a ballet dancer.
‘He came to lean on me, try to rough me up and he succeeded.’
Fury’s success in ‘roughing up’ Wilder in their Las Vegas showdown resulted in a broken hand, which he will have surgery on next week.
Co-manager Shelly Finkel confirmed those plans and added that his man would be ‘interested’ in a fight with Anthony Joshua, who lost his world titles against Oleksander Usyk last month.
Finkel said: ‘It’s a massive fight (Joshua v Wilder), no matter what happens in the Joshua-Usyk fight.’
Wilder’s new coach Malik Scott (right) insists the Bronze Bomber has no plans to retire just yet
He added: ‘Deontay broke his right hand behind the third knuckle and he has to have that fixed next week.
‘He has to have surgery, the knuckle is okay, it’s the bone behind the knuckle that broke.
‘He’s healing and at this point, if everything is okay, after the hand surgery he’ll probably look to enter the ring mid next year, like April or May.’