Tyson Fury ridiculed Deontay Wilder for refusing to speak during a press conference last Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Understandably, the unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion complained that Wilder wasn’t doing his part to promote their ESPN/FOX Sports pay-per-view fight July 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former champion’s nemesis called Wilder “a sh!t house p-ssy” for listening to music as the press conference unfolded and determined that Wilder is “weak” mentally for not answering questions from moderator Crystina Poncher and later the small army of media members that packed The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live.
Ultimately, though, Fury figured it was wise of Wilder to avoid answering any questions because Fury feels Wilder would have had an impossible time explaining the excuses he has made for his seventh-round, technical-knockout defeat to Fury in February 2020.
“What’s he gonna say?,” Fury told a group of reporters. “I think we’ve all heard enough of them excuses. Probably best he didn’t speak. Because then no one could ask him any questions about why he’s been saying all that stuff. So, probably good. Good idea, actually.”
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) made an array of excuses following his poor performance against England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) in their rematch 15 months ago in Las Vegas.
The 35-year-old Wilder drew criticism for suggesting that the 40-plus-pound costume he wore for his long ring walk weakened him before the opening bell rang. The Tuscaloosa, Alabama, native also accused Fury of loading his gloves, which led to Fury putting a “dent” in the side of Wilder’s head.
The hard-hitting Wilder fired his assistant trainer, too, because Mark Breland threw in the towel during the seventh round to prevent Wilder from suffering more damage. An infuriated Wilder fired Breland because he instructed his team members to never throw in a towel and later called Breland “disloyal.”
Wilder kept Jay Deas, his longtime co-manager and head trainer, as part of his team. Malik Scott, a retired heavyweight Wilder knocked out in the first round seven years ago, replaced the demoted Deas as Wilder’s head trainer, though.
Wilder didn’t answer questions about any of those topics, but Fury didn’t take offense to Wilder’s silence.
“No, I’m not interested,” Fury said. “People say stuff when they’re under immense pressure and they’re mentally unwell, and they’re in a fragile state. And that’s the way I see Deontay Wilder.”
Though Fury considers it “crazy” that Wilder didn’t speak, there’s nothing the ex-champion could’ve said that would’ve mattered to Fury.
“It’s a fight,” Fury said. “It’s a fight. You know, we’re gonna have a fight, we’re gonna do what we do and get paid for it.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.