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Tyson Fury Admits Deontay Wilder's 40 Pound Costume Excuse Could Be True

Tyson Fury Admits Deontay Wilder's 40 Pound Costume Excuse Could Be True

The WBC world champion says he was surprised how poor Wilder was in their fight...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Tyson Fury admits there could be some truth in Deontay Wilder's costume having a negative effect on his performance in the WBC world title fight in Las Vegas.

After suffering his first career defeat in brutal fashion at the hands of Fury, who secured the TKO victory in the seventh round, Wilder blamed the loss on the 40lbs costume he wore during his Black History Month tribute ring-walk.

Wilder said: "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."

Fury initially didn't buy the excuse and pointed out that Wilder regularly trains in a 45lb vest, but the Gypsy King has changed his tune a little and believes there may well be some substance to the claim given how poor the knockout artist was on the night in Las Vegas.

Image: PA
Image: PA

"That wasn't the Deontay Wilder that I prepared for, Fury told talkSPORT.

"Although it was a fantastic victory for myself and it was a great fight, it just did seem that Wilder maybe wasn't himself.

"Maybe all the excuses he made, some of them were true. Maybe his legs were sore from the costume, maybe he did have the flu, maybe he did have a broken arm or a bone in his back or whatever.

"I'm not sure because that wasn't the Deontay Wilder that I prepared for. That wasn't the animal I put myself through all those hours in training for.

"Like I said, it would be one of my easiest fights, and it was. I believe that was one of my easiest fights apart from the early knockovers that I had."

Melissa Anglesea, the creative director of Suzi Wong, who designed the outfit, dismissed Wilder's bizarre excuse and said it wouldn't have made an "ounce" of difference.

Image: PA
Image: PA

"Let's be honest, from a man that's six foot seven and weighs what Wilder does, a three stone costume makes absolutely no ounce of difference," she told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We've made stuff for heavyweight fighters including Dillian Whyte that are super heavy because we've used thousands of crystals - we used on a costume for Whyte that we made - and it was super heavy, but he knocked Dereck Chisora out when he wore that costume."

Wilder has been granted a rematch to make it a trilogy of fights between he and Fury and has been vocal about altering his choice of attire in the future.

He stated: "There was a lot of things that were designed on there that made it very, very, very heavy.

"You know, even with the mask, it had battery packs in the mask. So, it was quite a bit, you know, and I'm definitely gonna change that up. That's something that I'll never do again."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing News, Boxing, Deontay Wilder, WBC