John Fury, father of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), has ripped into Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) and his backers for "being in denial" over the circumstances of the second Fury vs. Wilder fight.
"The Gipsy King" claimed the title from "The Bronze Bomber", ending the American's unbeaten record in the process, with a seventh-round stoppage victory in February after their initial showdown ended in a draw.
Immediately after the loss, Wilder infamously suggested his elaborate ringwalk costume was so heavy, it drained his energy moments before the Las Vegas fight.
Though he has been less vocal since, Wilder's associates have continued to play damage control.
His brother Marsellos Wilder alleged over the summer that Fury was packing more than just his fists in his punches in what became known as "Glovegate" and was laughed off by many, including the new champion himself.
And after Wilder’s sparring partner Junior Fa claimed the 34-year-old was injured heading into the second fight in the latest claim, Tyson’s father John Fury told iFL TV: “Shouldn’t have fought then, should he? It’s up to his team to say, ‘You’re injured, you can’t fight.’
“To be honest with you, it’s the biggest load of bulls— I’ve ever heard from a professional sportsman.
“You got a beatdown, swallow it, look at it, assess it and know where you went wrong. Build on it and work on what mistakes you made.
“Until you accept what’s happened to you — it’s what you call being in denial — you’re not gonna learn from it and you’re not gonna move on. You’re just gonna get another beatdown for being silly, because his ego’s bigger than him. Shut up now with all those daft, rubbish comments you come out with, it’s absurd.
“It’s a joke, I’ve never heard it from a professional sportsman, just making yourself look bad.
“And the kid can fight, he’s a good fighter, good defending champion.
“He did get a bad beatdown because of his corner. The only good man he’s got is Mark Breland, the rest don’t know what they’re doing. They can’t do, because they wouldn’t be putting him back in so soon after the beatdown he got.
“If they put him back in, they want sacking.”
Fury Sr. used Dillian Whyte's recent shock knockout defeat to Alexander Povetkin as an example of a heavyweight handling defeat like a grown-up.
“Dillian took it like a man,” he continued. “What happened to Dillian Whyte could happen to any heavyweight, it’s heavyweight boxing.
“But you don’t hear Dillian coming out with 1,000 excuses, do you? The man’s a fighting man, he’s a tough guy.
“He’ll improve because he’s not in denial, he’s accepted where he went wrong, he’s gonna work on what mistakes he made and move on.
“Dillian Whyte’s a different man to Deontay Wilder, he’s more of a man.”