LAS VEGAS — The excuses have come far and wide from Deontay Wilder since losing the rematch and his WBC heavyweight belt to Tyson Fury via seventh-round TKO in February 2020.
Wilder has claimed former co-trainer Mark Breland shouldn't have thrown the towel into the ring to stop the fight, his controversial ring outfit being too heavy, Fury's gloves being loaded to his water being spiked. On Tuesday at his "grand arrival" ahead of Saturday's trilogy fight, a jovial Fury talked about Wilder's mental fortitude in not being able to accept the first defeat of his stellar career.
"It just shows you that I’m living in Wilder’s mind rent-free the whole time (for) two years," Fury said to the media, which included DAZN News. "Every time he looks in the mirror, he sees Tyson Fury. Every time he goes to bed before he closes his eyes at night, he sees “The Gypsy King”. Everything he wakes up and thinks about in the morning, he thinks of Tyson Fury. Even when he goes to sleep at night with his misses, he’s thinking of Tyson Fury. You must be crazy to be obsessed with a man like me. It’s just crazy."
The one excuse that has seemed to bother Fury more than anything is the costume Wilder wore during his ring entrance. The flashy outfit weighed approximately 45 pounds, with the Alabama native saying it weakened his legs and is why he was dropped twice by Fury before the fight was stopped in the seventh round. Fury is bothered that Wilder cannot come to grips with the fact he lost fair and square nearly 20 months ago.
“It’s been embarrassing for American boxing, really,” Fury said. "Because this guy is supposed to be the American heavyweight champion of the world, and you come up with excuses like this on the global stage, with the world watching. It’s absolutely pathetic. I’ve never seen anything like it. And he’s a disgrace not only to boxing but his country, to his family as well. To make all these pathetic excuses on why he lost the fight, when all he had to do was hold his hand out and say, ‘Fair play. You beat me on the night, and I’ll see you in the [third fight].’ ”