Deontay Wilder has made some head-scratching statements in the days since losing his Heavyweight Championship to Tyson Fury, most notably the bizarre excuse for why he got his ass kicked. In case you missed it, Wilder claims that his legs were weakened due to the 45-pound costume (don't forget the helmet and all the batteries!) that he wore on his walk to the ring in honor of Black History Month.
Fight fans were quick to criticize Wilder immediately after he muttered that ridiculous excuse, and it wasn't long before an old interview surfaced that seemed to contradict his costume defense.
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During a discussion with Joe Rogan in December 2018, Wilder specifically mentioned that he always trains with extra weight on him. In fact, Wilder told Rogan that he wears a 45-pound vest (same weight as the costume!) in everything he does.
“I wear a 45-pound vest on me as well too in all of my exercising and everything I do to have that extra weight on me," Wilder told Rogan of his training regimen in December 2018.
Whether you buy Wilder's excuse or not, he is going to get another crack at Fury this summer as the two heavyweights come face to face for the third time. A date and venue for Wilder-Fury III has not yet been announced but Wilder has already revealed that he intends to exercise his rematch clause later this year.
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Deontay Wilder Offers Laughable Excuse: Boxing Fans React
Deontay Wilder to exercise his rematch clause against Champion Tyson Fury, after claiming that his pre-fight costume wore him down.
Deontay Wilder was thoroughly outclassed during the highly anticipated rematch with Tyson Fury this past weekend, but he is already eyeing a trilogy fight this summer. Wilder and Fury had a rematch clause built in to their contract so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Wilder is prepared to give it another go, but the excuse for why he lost in such devastating fashion is absolutely laughable.
According to The Athletic's Lance Pugmire, Wilder claims that his legs were weakened due to the 45-pound costume (don't forget the helmet and all the batteries!) that he wore on his walk to the ring in honor of Black History Month.
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Both Wilder and Fury had extravagant ring entrances on Saturday night, although Fury elected to be carried on a throne flanked by models while Wilder donned that outrageous ensemble seen above. After his corner through in the towel during the 7th round, Wilder hinted that something wasn't right with his legs but nobody could have predicted that he'd actually blame his lackluster performance on A COSTUME!
Says Wilder, according to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:
“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. 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. 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.”
Check out some of the reactions to Wilder's unbelievable excuse below.
