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Wilder blames suit of armour for heavy legs

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“I still had five rounds left. I was still in the fight.”

Deontay Wilder has blamed his heavy and elaborate ring walk costume after losing the WBC heavyweight title to Britain’s Tyson Fury.

It was Wilder’s first loss in 44 professional fights as the 34-year-old was knocked down in the third and fifth rounds before Wilder’s corner stopped the fight by throwing in the towel in the seventh round on Saturday.

Wilder came to the ring in an all-black costume that consisted of a plate of armour, a mask and a crown weighing at least 18kg in a tribute to Black History Month.

“Fury didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is that my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder told Yahoo Sport late Monday.

“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. 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.”

Wilder added that he was disappointed in trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel.

“I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional,” he said. “I told my team to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind.

“I still had five rounds left. I was still in the fight.”

Wilder also revealed to The Athletic early yesterday morning that he will exercise his rematch clause in a bid to regain his WBC heavyweight title.

dpa and Reuters

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