Boxing news - Deontay Wilder criticises corner, claims leg injury
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Updated 23/02/2020 at 08:18 GMT
Deontay Wilder criticised his corner for throwing in the towel against Tyson Fury and claimed a pre-fight leg injury hindered him during his seventh-round defeat in the WBC heavyweight championship fight.
Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury
Image credit: Getty Images
Wilder, renowned as the hardest puncher in boxing, was made to feel Fury's power throughout the contest, having his head rocked by a jab in the first, before being sent to the canvas in the second and fifth rounds.
The Bronze Bomber was saved by the referee and his corner in the seventh round when trapped against the rope and taking big right hands from Fury, but despite his parlous position Wilder would have rather have been counted out than lost in that manner.
"My side threw in the towel and I'm ready to go out on my shield," Wilder said
"I wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield - I'm a warrior.
"Even the greatest have lost and came back, you take it for what it is.
"This is what big time boxing is all about - the best must fight the best."
The Alabama fighter also suggested he was hampered in the fight, where his balance was shaky throughout, due to an debilitating leg injury.
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Fury
Image credit: Getty Images
"I had a lot of things going on coming into the fight," Wilder said.
"My leg was already wrecked coming in due to other things."
The pair of boxers are believed to have agreed a third fight and the detail of this injury may provide intrigue for a rubber match which seems unnecessary on the surface after such a decisive victory for the Gypsy King.
Speaking about his tactics, which saw Fury revert from boxing on the back foot in the first fight, saw him walk down Wilder and dominate his opponent.
"Everybody knows I'm a master slick boxer and I can jab and move around the ring for 12 rounds, but that didn't work last time - a draw was a failure to me because all I do is win, win, win," Fury said.
"This time I wanted the knockout and the only way I could guarantee a win was the knockout so when me and Sugar Hill spoke he told me I would knock him out and I believed what he said.
"We worked to a game plan in the gym and it worked."
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