By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder feels that he was never appreciated during his long five-year reign as the WBC heavyweight champion. You can’t blame Deontay for being a bit bitter about how he lost his WBC heavyweight title to Tyson Fury.
Wilder should still be the WBC champion for all intents and purposes if the referee had done his job of disqualifying Fury for his fouling.
The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Deontay was roughed up with rabbit punches without the referee penalizing or bouncing Fury last year in February 2020.
As the saying goes, ‘No one cheers for Goliath.’ That may be true in some respects when it comes to Wilder. He was a great champion and arguably robbed of a knockout win over Tyson Fury in their first fight when he put the 6’9″ Gypsy King to sleep in the 12th.
After years of entertaining the fans, Wilder lost his title in a fight in which he was roughhoused for seven rounds by Fury.
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) puts himself in the same position as Floyd Mayweather Jr, a fighter many boxing fans openly rooted against and paid to see him lose.
Boxing fans called Mayweather “boring,” and many hoped for years to see him finally get put in his place and taste defeat. It never happened. Wilder feels the same way.
Wilder feels unappreciated
“They always said he was boring and his style, great boxing skills, great IQ, but it still wasn’t enough for people,” said Deontay to 78SPORTSTV. “And then when a king like me comes along which shows the opposite – power, athleticism – it still ain’t enough.
“Whether it’s good or bad, they’ve kept me relevant,” said Deontay. “People got to be careful what they say about Deontay Wilder because of the stand that I’ve chosen to take.
“I’ve got people on my side. You might get hit. I’m not a man of violence, but if it comes upon that, you brought it upon yourself,” said Deontay.
Wilder has a chance to rectify things by beating Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) on July 24th in their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Wilder can knock Fury out cold again, he might get the win this time.
It’s said to have to say that, but Deontay already knocked Fury out cold in the first fight, and the referee didn’t stop the fight.
Malik Scott proud of Wilder
“I was very proud of how Deontay handled that press conference,” said coach Malik Scott. “To you, he didn’t say enough.
“He said too much to me. That’s where I was at with it. Right now, he’s all business, all action, all violence.
“That’s where we are with things. We’re moving to the beat of our own drum over here. We’re about to become a two-time heavyweight champion of the world. The king is back,” said Scott.