According to Deontay Wilder, the 4o-lb. costume he wore into the ring prior to his heavyweight bout against Tyson Fury at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night left him with dead legs for the fight.
Wilder, who suffered a seventh-round TKO loss to Fury on Saturday night, told Yahoo Sports that the costume he wore as part of a Black History Month tribute was too heavy and left his legs tired.
“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.”
Though many believed Wilder suffered a broken eardrum and that was why his balance seemed off, the 34-year-old fighter said that wasn’t the case. Wilder, who didn’t suffer a concussion or a broken jaw either, sustained a two-centimeter cut that was closed with seven stitches, but that was it.
Wilder knocked Fury down twice during their first fight before the bout ended in a controversial split draw. He said he plans to exercise a rematch clause in his contract that will trigger a third fight with his 31-year-old British rival.
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