Deontay Wilder’s newest far-fetched excuse for shedding boxing fights is ‘greatest one but’
It’s been almost five years since Deontay Wilder famously lost his heavyweight world title to Tyson Fury in an unforgettable trilogy.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ has been on the road back to glory ever since, but disappointing losses to both Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker in the past 12 months have left him fighting for his career. Parker claimed victory by unanimous decision in December last year and ended Wilder’s hopes of a potential showdown with Anthony Joshua.
Then in July, Zhang caused another upset by knocking Wilder out. However, the 39-year-old has now provided a reason for the poor showings, claiming that he unknowingly fought both fights with a broken arm – something you’d think a professional boxer might notice in training.
“I broke my arm way back in November sometime,” he told TMZ, “I didn’t know. I had two tears on my shoulder. I could feel the pain, but I just thought it was old injuries.
“But I got an MRI [recently] and everything was f***ed up there, I didn’t know because I’ve got a high tolerance of pain.” It’s not the first time Wilder has dished out a far-fetched excuse after suffering a big defeat.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
After losing to Fury in 2020 his trainer Jay Deas suggested that his ring walk outfit could have played a part due to its weight. “His legs didn’t look great to me early on. I didn’t think his legs look like they normally look,” he told Boxing Social at the time. “I know he came to the ring in the outfit, which was very heavy. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.
The comments left Dillan Whyte, who was working for Sky Sports at the time, in stitches and boxing fans were quick to call Wilder out. Now the reaction has been even bigger with fans flocking to social media to poke fun at his ‘broken arm’.
One told Wilder to “just quit already” with another describing his excuses as the “best one yet”. A user also questioned how long it took him to come up with given his last fight was almost six months ago.
Either way, Wilder doesn’t plan on hanging up his gloves just yet and has his sights set on a bout with MMA star turned boxer Francis Ngannou.
