Deontay Wilder was thoroughly outclassed during the highly anticipated rematch with Tyson Fury this past weekend, but he is already eyeing a trilogy fight this summer. Wilder and Fury had a rematch clause built in to their contract so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Wilder is prepared to give it another go, but the excuse for why he lost in such devastating fashion is absolutely laughable.
According to The Athletic's Lance Pugmire, Wilder claims that his legs were weakened due to the 45-pound costume (don't forget the helmet and all the batteries!) that he wore on his walk to the ring in honor of Black History Month.
Al Bello/Getty Images
Both Wilder and Fury had extravagant ring entrances on Saturday night, although Fury elected to be carried on a throne flanked by models while Wilder donned that outrageous ensemble seen above. After his corner through in the towel during the 7th round, Wilder hinted that something wasn't right with his legs but nobody could have predicted that he'd actually blame his lackluster performance on A COSTUME!
Says Wilder, according to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:
“He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is ... that my uniform was way too heavy for me. 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. But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior. It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything. A lot of people were telling me, ‘It looked like something was wrong with you.’ Something was, but when you’re in the ring, you have to bluff a lot of things. I tried my best to do so. I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.
“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. It weighed 40, 40-some pounds with the helmet and all the batteries. I wanted my tribute to be great for Black History Month. I wanted it to be good and I guess I put that before anything.”
Check out some of the reactions to Wilder's unbelievable excuse below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232058007053357056
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232059241898229761
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232071261339160576
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232063306040512512
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232066145479360516
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232069155479621633
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232062825218105345
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232071226354434048
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232062852703424514
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232062857728135169
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232062638374424576
https://twitter.com/_/status/1232063640632688640