Deontay Wilder bizarrely blames Fury loss on … his outfit

It’s safe to say that Wilder-Fury II failed to turn out as expected. Their first fight, which came 14 months earlier, featured some slick and subtle boxing from Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder’s overwhelming force. That force was widely predicted to be decisive in the rematch. It was not. Instead, it was Fury — who had bulked up in preparation — who stepped in and delivered a straightforward hammering. Wilder was out of the fight more or less immediately, and his corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.

Fury, it’s true, put up a magnificent display in the win. He knocked down Wilder twice and was consistently able to land punches with deliberate, controlled aggression. It’s also true, however, that Wilder performed nowhere near his level. What happened?

Here’s one explanation, from the man himself:

He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is 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.

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.

Wilder meant this uniform:

Which, to be fair, is an extremely cool uniform, especially if your favored aesthetic is “Game of Thrones, but sent through a wormhole to the rhinestone dimension.” It’s also an extremely heavy uniform. Wilder went on to say that, with batteries, the whole thing came in at 40 pounds. You can’t blame him from putting on a show for his fans, especially one meant as a nod to Black History Month, but if lugging that thing around pre-fight interfered with Wilder’s body that’s a pretty significant unforced error.

Either way, “my armor was too heavy” is a very funny explanation for getting annihilated in the biggest fight of your career. Strong French-at-Agincourt vibes from Wilder here.