“When you lose, you lose,” was Deontay Wilder’s mantra after dispatching Bermane Stiverne once again, this time inside a single round. “I consider him a sore loser.”
That was four years ago, when the Bronze Bomber was a man with no time for excuses. “Everybody’s gonna have an excuse,” he reflected after his 37th successive career victory. “The thing about it is, nobody wants to hear an excuse once you lose.”
From alleging his water was spiked to blaming the referee, Wilder has learned a thing or two about excuses since his defeat to Tyson Fury in February 2020. Most memorable of all were his complaints about the ornate costume he wore, of his own volition, for his ring walk.
The carnival atmosphere as he made his way through the ropes quickly dissipated as he was outclassed and ultimately knocked out in the seventh round.
The costume was “too heavy”, he conceded, and had tired his legs, which “were just shot”. Nonetheless, he is promising a similar outfit for his trilogy fight against Fury on 9 October, knowing full well the decider could go some way towards deciding his heavyweight legacy.
“Since I became champion, you know, nobody has come out with a better dress, better uniform than I have,” he told BoxingScene. “And we’re going to continue with that. We’ll just have to see what I put on. It’s going to be something special. It’s going to be something that I dedicate to my people, my tribe. So you can look forward to seeing it.”
Wilder has always worn masks for his entrances, believing they help him get into character as it acts “like a blocker”.
Fury’s own ringwalks do not lack frills. A stripped-back version preceded the draw in 2018, before he was carried to the ring on a golden throne – with accompanying crown for the self-titled “Gypsy King” – for the rematch. Both were a hit with an audible British contingent, as was his entrance draped in the American flag and top hat against Tom Schwarz.
He has also put together an extensive repertoire of music, including Gala’s “Freed from Desire” (colloquially known as “The Will Grigg Song”) with the twist of “Fury’s on fire” often added by the crowd. Memorably, upon his return against Sefer Seferi after his two years out battling alcohol and drug issues, he walked out to a re-worked version of Afroman’s “Because I Got High”.
Around 4am in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time, there will no doubt be more showboating from both sides. It is the high jinks that sell this fight, a bout which Fury’s camp essentially see as a legal obligation. For Wilder, it is a payday.
Yet while the pre-fight fireworks add to the sheer theatre of the spectacle, it’s the result and its ramifications for the heavyweight rankings – with newly-crowned Oleksandr Usyk waiting in the wings if he survives his probable rematch with Anthony Joshua – that will be remembered.
Fury vs Wilder 3 details
- Date: Saturday 9 October
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Nevada, USA
- Fight time: Ringwalks for the main event are expected around 4am BST
- TV/Live stream: The fight will be shown live on BT Sport. You can also stream it on the BT Sport app. It costs £24.95 on pay-per-view.
Should it go the same way as their last encounter, Wilder would do well to remember his own advice.
“Go back into the gym and work on that,” was the message to Stiverne. “Because people don’t wanna hear that when you lose.”
