By Jeff Aronow: Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury stood for an incredible five-minute for their face-off on Tuesday during their kickoff press conference to announce their fight on July 24th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fury looked annoyed and disappointed at Wilder’s decision to stay silent, not answer questions, looking mentally disengaged.
When you lose, you’ve got to be responsible and be a mature adult about it. We didn’t see that from Wilder today during the press conference, unfortunately.
Wilder was wearing headphones and sunglasses throughout the press conference, seemingly shutting out the remarks from Fury and the questions that were being asked of him.
During the face-off with Fury, Wilder took his sunglasses off but left his headphones on.
Finally, after five minutes, former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) turned and walked away without a word. At that point, some of Fury’s fans called him the winner of the face-off.
It wasn’t a victory, it was a disappointment because the press conference was a one-man show with WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) doing all the talking. Other than a few words from Wilder, Fury did all the promoting of the fight during the press conference.
Wilder missed his opportunity to take advantage of the spotlight being on him to give his thoughts. After all, he’s part of this fight and he’s obligated to help promote rather than leave all the hard work up to Fury. Wilder’s decision to not speak aside from his opening words was a sign immaturity.
Wilder vows to cut off Fury’s head
“Enough said time to come off his head,” said Wilder during Tuesday’s press conference with Tyson Fury in Los Angeles. “Come July 24th, there will be bloodshed. Get your tickets now, I’ll see you soon.”
The faceoff lasted five minutes 😳#FuryWilder3 pic.twitter.com/ifb0qyvvzU
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) June 15, 2021
Maybe Wilder was too embarrassed at losing his last fight to Fury for him to answer questions and take his headphones off.
One of the hallmark signs of someone who is ashamed is for them to hide, and you can argue that the sunglasses, headphones, and the lack of communication from Wilder were his way to conceal what he feels.
It will be bad for Premier Boxing Champions, Top Rank, and ESPN if Fury is the only one promoting this fight. This is such an important match, and it’s one that Wilder fought to get. After all this work Wilder’s team put into getting the fight, he should be helping promote it.