WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is not satisfied with the way the referee handled the twelfth round of his December bout with Tyson Fury.
Wilder had fits with Fury's boxing style, but he dropped the challenger once before they entered the final round - and then he leveled him with huge knockdown - where Fury was laying motionless as the referee was counting.
In what some saw as a miracle, Fury was able to beat the count and finished the fight on a high note.
Wilder believes Fury was down for at least ten seconds or longer and should have been counted out.
“I strongly believe I knocked him out. The referee said he went with the spirit of boxing and not the rules, but I don’t understand what that means because he has only got one job and it’s simple — even my one-year-old can do his job — and that is to count to 10,” Wilder told The Mirror.
And regarding Anthony Joshua, Wilder believes the British star is making a big mistake by taking an immediate rematch with Andy Ruiz.
Back in June, Joshua was dropped four times and stopped by Ruiz in the seventh round. The rematch is being pegged for a date in December, at a location to be determined.
“Due to the circumstances of how Joshua lost, I wouldn’t take the rematch straight away. He should have a warm-up," Wilder said.
“He lost in a bad fashion and the warm-up would be for the mental side of it — 'Are you still there?' You have to overcome your demons.
“I would just advise him to follow his heart, go with his intuition, how he feels, don’t try to make others happy because they can’t get into the ring. They’re not going to fight and they’re definitely not putting their lives on the line. His handlers, they don’t want to see anyone else unify the division, so they’re trying to force him into doing something he’s really not ready for.”
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