Costume weighs heavily on Wilder
Dethroned heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has blamed his knockout defeat to Tyson Fury on the heavy costume he wore during the ring walk as he confirmed he would be exercising his right to a rematch.
The hard-hitting American, who was stopped in the seventh round by Fury in Las Vegas to lose his WBC title, told Yahoo Sports that the 18.1kg outfit made in tribute to Black History Month was too heavy and meant ‘‘he didn’t have the legs for the fight’’.
His trainer, Jay Deas, made a similar claim in the post-fight press conference after Wilder’s first professional loss, which came in the 11th defence of his heavyweight crown.
Wilder said he had worn the flashy $40,000 outfit to create a memorable night of entertainment, but it had backfired badly. Incredibly, the 34-year-old claimed that he hadn’t been hurt by Fury’s punches, despite being knocked down in the third and fifth rounds and being dominated throughout by the classy Brit until the towel came in.
‘‘He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is . . . that my uniform was way too heavy for me,’’ Wilder said of the costume that featured armour, a mask and a crown.
‘‘I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight . . . 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 didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.’’