Deontay Wilder has blamed his brutal defeat to Tyson Fury on his ring walk costume while confirming he will be triggering his rematch clause to fight him for the third time.
The American boxer made a grand entrance in a black and red armoured bodysuit with a matching mask and crown for his second bout with Fury at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
However, the Bronze Bomber, 34, suffered the first professional defeat of his career as he was knocked down twice before his defeat to his British rival, 31, as his team threw in the towel in the seventh round.
The fight was ended amid concerns of a burst eardrum, after blood was seen coming out from Wilder’s left ear and mouth.
Speaking in an interview with Yahoo on Monday night, Wilder claimed his defeat was largely down to the 45-pound costume weakening his legs.
He told Yahoo: ‘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.’
On trilogy fight with Fury, he said he will exercise his right to activate the bout which is expected to take place in the summer.
‘The rematch is definitely going to happen,’ he told The Athletic. ‘We’re going to get it on. I want to get right back to it.’
He also confirmed that former world champion Mark Breland, who is in his corner will be removed for throwing in the towel during the seventh round, prompting the referee to end the bout.
‘I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional.
‘I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principal of receiving.
‘So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.’
