PAAfter suffering the blow of his very first professional loss, Deontay Wilder has put forward his own theory as to why he was defeated by Tyson Fury in their Las Vegas bout.
Wilder, 34, has alleged that the connection between Fury’s trainer, Javan ‘Sugar Hill’ Steward, and former WBC super middleweight champ Anthony Dirrell influenced assistant trainer Mark Breland’s decision to end the fight in the seventh round.
Referee Kenny Bayless put a stop to Wilder’s rematch against Fury once Breland threw in the towel. After Wilder questioned Breland about this, he reportedly explained he hadn’t wanted Wilder to get seriously injured during what had become a one-sided fight.
PAHowever, Wilder reportedly still has questions about this decision, as he has long told both Breland and head trainer Jay Deas to never throw in the towel during a fight. Deas reportedly also instructed Breland against this action after it was mentioned as a possibility.
Opening up about his theory with Boxing Scene, Wilder accused Dirrell of ‘yelling’ at his trainers to put a stop to the fight.
Revealing Breland’s explanation for the decision, Wilder told Boxing Scene:
It’s a human, immediate reaction, like, ‘I didn’t wanna see you get hurt’. But I was hurt way more in the first [Luis] Ortiz fight than in this situation. I still had my mind. I still knew what I was doing at certain times.
I still knew how to move around the ring. Although I didn’t have the legs, I knew how to move around the ring. Sh-t, I was 42-0, you know, 10 consecutive title defenses. I know what I’m doing in there.
It may look a certain type of way, but when you’re talking about a Deontay Wilder, I’m never out of a fight because of my tremendous power. We’ve seen that many a times. I’m never out of a fight.
And I’d rather go out on my shield and my sword than anything. You know, by [Breland] knowing that and then Jay, which is the head trainer, Jay told him not to do so. He still proceeded with it.
It’s kinda hurtful, man. It really makes you think about different things. I don’t wanna put negative thoughts in my head or have any kind of conspiracy theories going on, but it makes you think. Somebody that did not something that’s not up to him, and even when they’re instructed not to, they still proceeded on.
BT SportWilder continued:
And then getting influenced by the opposite team, one of the guys that trains with the opposite trainer, you know, it makes you think. He was influenced by [Anthony] Dirrell.
They said [Anthony] Dirrell was in back of him screaming, ‘Throw the towel in! We love our champ!’ And, you know, [Anthony] works with ‘Sugar’ as well, the opposite trainer, Tyson’s trainer. [Dirrell] works with him, too.
[Breland] said he didn’t hear nothing, but everybody’s saying the same thing. A lot of people that’s around, a lot of people that was in my camp, and if everybody’s hearing it and if my people in the corner can hear him, and Mark said he can’t hear [him], there’s something wrong with that.
PADirrell has since denied this theory, telling Koncrete Jungle he had not attempted to stop the fight:
It’s gone viral now, I don’t know why they think it was me, these people are weird. But if it was me, I can’t get nobody to stop this fight.
How’s somebody from the audience getting your corner to stop the fight? This sh*t is weird, man. They came up with this whole story that I was the reason that they stopped the fight because Sugar Hill is my trainer… what?
Nowhere near [true]. Any publicity is good publicity so I ain’t trippin’ most of the time, but when somebody is slandering my name I am.
It wasn’t even me, these fools… it’s life. That’s crazy he fired his trainer, he was looking out for his best interests, that’s stupid. It’s crazy, man. People blaming it on everything and it’s not true. He said it was that suit that did it, I don’t believe that. I just believe he had an off night.
Wilder told Boxing Scene he will decide Breland’s future on his team after his return from a trip to Africa in late March.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.