Sometimes boxing relationships just go sour. Former heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder and former co-trainer Mark Breland can tell you all about it.
Wilder dismissed Breland last fall amid the lingering fallout after Tyson Fury stopped Wilder in their rematch, which took place in February. Wilder was upset that Breland stopped the fight against his wishes and later suggested the former Olympic and pro champion might’ve spiked the water he drank during the fight.
Breland recently spoke out on The Fight is Right show. And he didn’t hold back.
On the state of Wilder’s career: “[His] career is over now. I’m done, and he’s done. I’m done with him. Wilder only has his power, and we’ll see how far that takes him. That’s all I’m going to say. I wish him well and that’s it.
On the alleged spiked water: “So many people know me, my character speaks for itself. If you’re looking at tapes or whatever and stuff like that, You don’t ever see water in my hands. And regardless of that, I’m there to help you. My attitude is, ‘When you win, I win,’”
On Wilder’s allegations that Fury loaded his gloves: “If [Fury] did, I don’t know. I doubt it very much, but at the same time, he ain’t going to beat Tyson Fury.”
On Wilder’s longtime co-trainer Jay Deas: “[Deas] was standing right there when the man was getting his hands wrapped. If they put something in there, either Jay’s blind or … Jay is right there when he’s getting his hands wrapped and he didn’t say anything. But to be honest, that’s how much he knows about boxing. Hell, he probably could’ve put a cast up in there and he wouldn’t have known.”
On Wilder’s excuses after the loss to Fury, including a wild one about a heavy mask during his ring walk that took a toll on his legs: “Some people can’t take a loss, if you lose, you lose. Don’t blame everybody, go back and think about yourself. Come on now, only foolish people come out with stuff like that because it’s crazy.”
On Wilder’s training habits: “He don’t jump rope, he don’t hit the speed bag and he don’t hit the heavy bag. To fight a guy like him, I would out-jab him. I don’t think he’d be able to touch me. I’d put him to sleep, the jab can bang that chin and put you down. If I boxed the guys he boxed, I’d beat them. That’s the bottom line. You say he had some ‘good wins’? A good win. Just that [Luis Ortiz] fight, that was it.”
Then it was Wilder’s turn to respond. He fired back at Breland on the YouTube channel 78 Sports TV.
On Breland’s comments in general: “This man was around me for so long. I fed this dude. Even when many people thought I outgrew him. Many wanted me to fire him, but I kept him on board. And to hear all these things that he’s saying, it’s crazy. You should have been gone a long time ago because of the love that I had, to continue to give you a job.
“Even after the fact with all the medical issues that he personally has going on with himself, I still kept him around. For him to betray me and say all this stuff, it is a little hurtful only for these simple facts that how close I had him with my family. It just allows me to believe that he had something deeper rooted about me.
“I can understand why. What the f— did I do? He knows what type of person I am. He knows I look out for people. Something deeply embedded in him for him to feel some kind of way. Where is it all coming from? Is it because where I was in life and your career was short? It could be a jealousy thing.
“I can’t understand where it’s coming from. We know what the deal is. We know what’s up man. You would want to debunk something that we all have proof and evidence of. I told Jay [Deas], ‘I believe Mark did something to the water.’ I’m telling you. I know how I felt in the ring. That wasn’t me. If people understood how I felt.
“This man has been jealous of me. Now this is all coming out. I told Jay, ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.’”
On his first fight with Fury, a draw in 2018: “Even in the first fight, [Breland] wasn’t even in the ring. He left as soon as the fight was over like he was mad or something. In the second fight, it was the same. His energy was off. He didn’t want to be around, as if he already knew something was up.
“Now look at him. He’s running to the U.K. to do interviews. He’s talking about the end of my career? It’s only the beginning of greatness. But for you my friend, it is the end. I’m so glad I won’t die broke. He was definitely part of what was going on. His energy said it during the first fight, and in the second, it followed.
“You can’t break a king. A king is a king. A king knows how to get back up, dust himself off and continue to lead, because he has people on the outside and the inside waiting for the king to get up.”
On what Wilder believes is Breland’s jealousy: “The only explanation I can get out of it is, he was jealous of me and my career. I don’t see anything else, because I didn’t even have a relationship with Mark outside of boxing. Maybe he wanted to be closer to me. I don’t know what it is for him to come out and say all this s— all of a sudden.
“You put another man under the bus. So many people already ridiculed him, and doubted him. He’s wrong for that s—. You did that to your own kind. I’m just so happy that I don’t. If the shoe was on the other foot, they’d prosecute me. They’d have been all over me.
“I ain’t going nowhere. They can hate all day. Hating a king like me isn’t going to do the world any good. Let him do what he does. He’s a bitch. Putting another man under the bus because you’re feeling guilty. Man up, you did the crime. Man up.”
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