By William Lloyd: Deontay Wilder is still in denial about his knockout loss to Tyson Fury from a year ago. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is having difficulties admitting that he was battered by Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) to the point where he needed to be saved by his former trainer Mark Breland in the seventh.
It was ruled a technical knockout [TKO] loss for Wilder, but he seems to be more intent on whitewashing his defeat by calling it a “stoppage” rather than a knockout.
It’s disappointing that the former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder can’t admit that he was hurt to the point where his trainer needed to save him.
“Even on my worst night and his best night, he still couldn’t get me out of there. People try to label it as a knockout, but that’s not a knockout,” said Wilder to BT Sport Boxing on his stoppage loss to Tyson Fury in 2020.
“That’s a stoppage because of a weak individual in my team [who threw the towel in,” said Wilder.
In the final sequences of the fight in round seven, Fury was battering a badly hurt Wilder with him against the ropes taking heavy shots. Fury was unloading with a storm of stiff headshots and not missing anything against the bloody & battered Wilder.
If not for Breland throwing in the towel, the referee would have likely stopped it because he was poised to step in.
It’s a pity that Wilder can’t own his defeat to admit that he wasn’t good enough that night. For Wilder, it’s too hard for him to confess that he wasn’t on Fury’s level in that contest. That’s not to say that Wilder can’t potentially beat Fury on Saturday, considering he appears to have improved.
“When you have devastating power, you’re always going to be the leader of the pack,” said Deontay in talking about himself. “But when you have power, you’re never out of a fight. Having power can get you out of so many different things,” said Wilder.
Deontay isn’t the pack leader despite having devasting power, and he may find out the bitter truth this Saturday if he loses to Fury a second time.
“In this fight, people are going to see a lot of different things,” said Wilder. “I can’t please everyone, and I’m not trying to, and I never have, and I never will.
“There are too many people in the world, and I can’t please everyone. You show them everything, and they’re still going to find a way to degrade you and drag you down,” said Wilder.
