Wilder still thinks Fury was given a LONG COUNT in 12th round in first fight

By Boxing News - 02/04/2020 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Deontay Wilder still believes that Tyson Fury was given a LONG COUNT by the referee Jack Reiss in the 12th round of their first fight in December 2018. Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) thinks that Fury was given TOO much time to wake up after being knocked cold by a beautiful right-left combination that flattened him like a pancake in front of a stunned crowd of 17,698 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Wilder said Fury’s body looked like a “murder scene” the way it was laid out on the canvas with both of eyes closed for a long period of time. The referee Reiss chose to give a count to what appeared to be a badly hurt Fury, who looked to be completely out cold.

Wilder: Fury was given more time to get up from knockdown

“In the first fight, it was a controversial draw with me knocking him down, and him getting up, it gave people expectations what to expect in the second fight,” said Wilder to The Rich Eisen Show. “The first fight lived up to the hype, and the second one will live up to it as well.

“I think he was given more time than needed,” said Wilder on his 12th round knockdown of Fury in their first fight. “Even the referee said he went out the spirit of boxing and not the rules, and that he went what was best for boxing.

“I say, ‘Sir, that’s not your job. Your job is simple. My two-year-old can do it, and that’s to count,” said Wilder on referee Jack Reiss. Unfortunately, you had to count some somebody out. With the fight being so exciting and so big, he made an emotional decision. But on the other hand, it was a controversial decision as well.

“It made a great fight, and it made the hype for the second one even better,” said Wilder on Fury getting up from the 12th round knockdown. “So it’s like a give and take type of thing, so we took that and ran with it, and here we are now. It was amazing to see,” Wilder said about Fury getting up in the 12th round after he dropped him.

As you can see, Wilder thinks Fury was given a long count in his 12th round knockdown, and that’s a shame. It’s a situation where the referee moved slowly to Fury, and was looking in the opposite direction as he walked instead of looking directly at the fallen Tyson.

Wilder not angry with referee

Deontay isn’t bitter about Reiss not quickly counting out Fury or stopping it on the spot when he saw him get knocked down in the 12th. It’s worked in Wilder’s favor, because now he’s going to make a lot of money in the rematch with Tyson on February 22nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Should Fury have been counted out?

How long did it take for Reiss to get to Fury? Was it 2 seconds? With Fury getting up at the count of 8, he would have been counted out if Reiss was on top of him from the get go. It’s easy to see why Wilder believes Fury was given a long count.

There are questions that can be asked about how long it took before Reiss started his count on Fury after he was dropped in the 12th. If there was a 3 to 4 second delay before Reiss began his count after the knockdown, then obviously that would have been more than enough time for Fury to get back to his feet before he reached the 10 count.

Had the referee Reiss did the logical thing in stopping the fight immediately after the knockdown, fans wouldn’t be interested in seeing Wilder and Fury run it back again for a second fight. It plays in both fighters’ favor that Reiss DIDN’T stop the contest.

With that said, it’s important that the referee not create controversy for the rematch on February 22 by doing something that leads fans to believe that one guy was given favorable treatment.

If Fury is knocked out again, it would be a good idea for the referee to immediately stand over him and count loud so there’s no question about the British fighter was given more time to get up.

Deontay: Fury was on the canvas like a murder scene

“Most of the time when I put someone on the canvas, they’re not getting up,” said Wilder in still talking about his knockdown of Fury. “Their body does weird things when they’re on there. But this specific time, he got up. Looking upon that. When I dropped him, I was looking over him, and I could see his eyes on the back of his head, and his body was on the canvas like a murder scene,” said Wilder about Fury.

“So when you’re seeing that, ‘It’s over.’ I’m blowing kisses at my wife, and doing different things to the audience and whatever,” said Wilder in remembering his knockdown of Fury. “And then to turn around and see him rise from the head, it was like surprising to me. But inside, I was overwhelmed,” said Wilder.

Deontay seemed to think the fight was over after he dropped Fury in the final round last time. Wilder immediately turned away from the badly hurt Fury, and walked to the crowd, and began celebrating.

Wilder thought he had the fight won

You can’t blame Wilder for celebrating after the knockdown in round 12, as it was such a devastating thing to watch. It was almost impossible to see Fury getting up from that. He was laying there for at least 3 to 4 seconds with his eyes closed. 9 times out of 10, you can argue that referees stop those types of fights where a guy is seemingly out cold, and not moving like Fury.

All you can say is it’s a good thing Fury was OK, because it would have been tragic if a stretcher and medical team wasn’t brought in immediately to give him assistance if he’d been really hurt badly. It’s tough for referees because they have to make a snap decision whether to stop a fight right away when they see a fighter that is badly hurt.

You’ve got to give Fury a lot of credit for getting back up, and making out of the 12th without getting dropped again. Some Fury fans believe that he deserved to be given the 12th round, even though he was knocked down. Of course, those are the same fans that believe Fury won 10 out of 12 rounds in the fight, and that obviously wasn’t the case.

Fury stole rounds by taunting Wilder

“He said, ‘I didn’t feel nothing. The lights just went off,’ because I gave him a concussion that time,” said Wilder about Tyson. “But to see him rise, and go on, it’s one of those moments in time that I’ll never forget. Of course, I see the fight differently. My angle and view was different than that, because I felt I won the first four rounds,” Wilder said in reacting to Fury saying that he won 10 of 12 rounds in the first fight.

“With his tactics of sticking his tongue out, putting his hands behind his back,”said Wilder about Fury. “Those are veteran tactics to win a round when it’s indessive for the judges. So you do those types of things,” said Wilder about Fury trying to steal rounds.

Not many boxing fans have talked about the impact that Fury’s taunting of Wilder might have had on the 3 judges that scored the fight. Even though Fury wasn’t doing anything in terms of his offense when he was sticking his tongue out and holding his hands behind his back, it gave the impression that he was in control of the fight.

The fact is, Fury WASN’T in control. He’d been knocked down in the 9th, and Wilder had nearly matched him in punches landed in each round. Fury’s taunting of Wilder shows how impressionable judges can be towards mental games that fighters use to impress them without even throwing punches.