By: Hans Themistode
There’s an expression called doing too much. It essentially means when an individual is doing far more than needed. That line seems to fit perfectly in this situation.
Former WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder was determined to make a statement, both inside and outside of the ring against Tyson Fury this past Saturday night at the MGM Grand Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since we are currently in the month of February, which also represents Black History month. Wilder wanted to do a special tribute to celebrate the historical time. His choice however, may have led to his downfall.
Wilder made his way to the ring sporting an all black costume with red eyes. It looked pretty cool. Even a bit intimidating, but it reportedly weighed over 40 pounds. While Wilder may have picked up a few cool points for his pre fight outfit, his legs took a major tool because of it.
Wilder stumbled across the ring and was knocked down during the third and fifth rounds. From the outside looking in, it seemed as though Fury was just the bigger, stronger and better fighter on the night. And now the former WBC titlist is just looking for excuses for his poor performance. But that just isn’t the case.
“That my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder told Yahoo Sports by telephone. “I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight. In the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through. But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior. It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything. A lot of people were telling me, ‘It looked like something was wrong with you.’ Something was, but when you’re in the ring, you have to bluff a lot of things. I tried my best to do so. I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.”
The next question is an easy one. Why didn’t Wilder try on the costume beforehand? He did, but clearly he didn’t leave it on long enough.
“I was only able to put it on [for the first time] the night before but I didn’t think it was going to be that heavy. It weighed 40, 40-some pounds with the helmet and all the batteries. I wanted my tribute to be great for Black History Month. I wanted it to be good and I guess I put that before anything.”