Deontay Wilder was upset that trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the Tyson Fury fight but has decided to retain him.
Deontay Wilder reportedly is sticking with Mark Breland.
Breland, the former heavyweight titleholder’s longtime co-trainer, irked Wilder when he threw in the towel to save the fighter from taking further punishment from Tyson Fury in their rematch on Feb. 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Wilder was taking punches with his back to a corner in the seventh round when referee Kenny Bayless, heeding Breland’s wishes, waved off the fight.
Afterward, Wilder insisted that he and his team members had an understanding that no fight of his would be stopped in such a fashion, in part because he can end any bout with one punch. Hence, he was frustrated after Breland’s actions.
In the end, though, he understands where Breland’s heart was. He sent ESPN a statement before he left for a trip to Africa explaining his position.
“I’m a warrior,” he said. “I feel the same way I felt on fight night – if I have to go out, I want to go out on my shield. But I understand that my corner and my team has my best interest at heart. Mark Breland is still a part of Team Wilder and our team looks forward to preparing for the [trilogy fight].”
Wilder has made it clear that he intends to demand a third fight with Fury, as per their contract for the rematch.
The contract reportedly stipulates that the rematch must take place before July 18 but, according to ESPN, Bob Arum, Fury’s co-promoter, said the new champ would be willing to give Wilder more time if necessary.
The rematch, which was heavily marketed, generated between 800,000 and 850,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States, according to reports. That’s the highest number for a heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson drew 1.99 million in 2002 but well below some of the biggest lower-weight fights in recent years.
In his heyday, Foreman, much like Wilder today, had one of the great wrecking-ball right hands. Also like Wilder, Foreman suffered a devastating loss when he went up against Muhammad Ali in 1974 in the so-called “Rumble in the Jungle.” Ali, a heavy underdog, knocked Foreman out in the eighth round. Foreman would mount an incredible comeback, albeit more than a decade later, when he became the oldest heavyweight titleholder in heavyweight history at 45.
Given the similarities, Foreman thinks he can offer a helping hand to Wilder.
Foreman’s comment arrives after Wilder voiced a highly unconvincing mea culpa. He blamed his performance on the weight of his ringwalk costume and threw co-trainer Mark Breland under the bus for throwing in the towel, which prompted referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight.
“I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional,” Wilder told Yahoo Sports! “… I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.”
If Wilder moves on from Breland, who has been with him from Day 1 in the professional ranks, he’ll probably hire someone else to work with head trainer Jay Deas as he prepares to a likely third fight with Fury.
Tyson Fury and the handlers of both fighters seem to think Fury and Deontay Wilder will do it one more time.
LAS VEGAS – The rematch left no doubt. Tyson Fury knocked out the questions and Deontay Wilder. Fury is the better heavyweight, perhaps the best in the world.
Fury finished the debate.
But not the business. Not yet, anyway.
There’s always more money to be made and it looks as if the potential for a lot more was left on the table in the wake of Fury’s stunning seventh-round stoppage of Wilder on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Wilder, proven to be the one-trick pony that Fury said he was, had no options within the ropes. But he still has one outside of them. He can opt for a third fight.
Tyson Fury would be OK with a third fight with Deontay Wilder. Al Bello / Getty Images
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to do it again,’’ Fury said at a post-fight news conference.
Fury couldn’t be certain. Wilder wasn’t there. Instead, he was reported to be at a nearby hospital, undergoing treatment for bleeding from his left ear. There probably wasn’t much that could be done for his fractured ego or the damage to his career. Only time can do that. But he has 30 days to exercise a contract option for a third fight.
“Certainly, I think they’ll probably want it,’’ Wilder trainer Jay Deas said. “We’ll want it.’’
From the financial side of the ledger, there were reasons for a third go-round. The sold-out crowd generated a live gate of $16, 916,4440, a Nevada box office record for a heavyweight title fight, surpassing the $16.88 million gate for the 1999 Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
The gate was a sign that the pay-per-view numbers will be big enough to do it all over again. According to Fury promoter Bob Arum, Fury and Wilder could collect more than $40 million each if the pay-per-view buys hit the 2 million mark.
Both were already guaranteed $25 million-to-$28 million, according to multiple sources with each promotional entity. Fury is with Top Rank and Wilder with Premier Boxing Champions.
Deontay Wilder was saved from himself by co-trainer Mark Breland, which didn’t sit well with the fighter. Al Bello / Getty Images
Fury probably can get that kind of money in an all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua. For Wilder, however, the only option is the third leg in a trilogy. It’s his call
“Deontay will take the time, but you’ll see these guys in the ring again,” Wilder manager Shelly Finkel said.
It was no surprise that Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn was already lobbying for Fury to fight Joshua next.
“No need for a third let’s go straight to it in the Summer!” Hearn said in a tweet.
For now, the question appears to be more when than if a third fight will happen. The extent of Wilder’s injuries was not immediately clear. Bleeding from his ear affected his equilibrium, Deas said. He was knocked down twice, once in the third round and again in the fifth. He also slipped at least twice during a bout in which he landed his feared right hand only a couple times in the early moments.
In the fight’s immediate aftermath, he complained about a leg injury. But he wasn’t specific about the nature of the injury or how it affected him.
Trouble in his corner is also possible. Co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel at 1:39 of the seventh round. That angered Wilder.
“The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel, and I was ready to go out on my shield,’’ Wilder said before leaving the arena. ‘I just wish my corner would have let me go out on my shield, I’m a warrior. But he (Fury) did what he did and there’s no excuses.’’
As he returned to his corner, Wilder can be heard on the telecast asking: “Why did you do that?’’
Deas said he asked Breland not to throw the towel.
“I told him: ‘Don’t do that,’’’ Deas said. “I didn’t think he should do that. Then the fight went on a little bit longer and then I saw the towel go in, so I haven’t talked to Mark about it.
“But we’ll talk about it and figure out what exactly happened there.’’
Trainer Abel Sanchez believes the secret to Deontay Wilder’s success in the ring isn’t just the devastating right hand…
What is the secret to Deontay Wilder’s success in the ring? Forget the bomb of a right hand. For trainer Abel Sanchez, it’s the man in Wilder’s corner.
“[Wilder’s] secret weapon is [co-trainer] Mark Breland,” Sanchez told Boxing Junkie. “Oh yes, absolutely. Mark is his coach, and he never gets mentioned.”
Breland, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist who was touted as the next Sugar Ray Leonard, was known for his length and devastating right hand as a welterweight in the professional ranks. Along with head trainer Jay Deas, Breland has been instructing Wilder since he turned professional in 2008, shortly after he won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Sanchez, best known for his work with Terry Norris and Gennadiy Golovkin, got a close up look at the Wilder camp several years ago, when his fighter Murat Gassiev received an invitation to come spar.
“When I was there for one week and they were shadow boxing, I could see Mark was constantlytalking to Deontay,” Sanchez said. “Now that I see his fights more … it’s more evident to me that Mark had a really big influence on that part of his game.”
It was something like a match made in heaven, according to Sanchez. Wilder’s seemingly rudimentary skill set is a source of agony for some aficionados, but Sanchez recognizes that Wilder has been brought up to maximize his greatest attributes: power and length.
“Sometimes we as coaches don’t develop everything as a fighter,” Sanchez said. “There’s very few coaches that can teach you everything at 100%. There are defensive coaches and there are offensive coaches. Mark may not have been able to develop that with other fighters, but with Wilder being as long and lanky as Mark was, it was a perfect fit.”
Case in point is Wilder’s right hand. There is nothing rudimentary about it.
“When you look at Deontay’s right hand, that thing is totally extended,” Sanchez said. “And I think that is one of the reasons why he punches so hard. He gets so much leverage on his punch, he just extends it so well.”
Contrast that to Tyson Fury, the equally tall and long heavyweight giant whom Wilder faces in a rematch this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“All these heavyweights today are 6-foot whatever, but if you look at Tyson Fury, Tyson Fury is a different kind of fighter,” Sanchez said. “He has the height and length, too, but he doesn’t use it like Deontay does. He wants to dance, and his arms are bent when he punches, so he doesn’t get that additional explosion off of his punches as Deontay has been able to do.”
Deontay Wilder says Tyson Fury’s decision to fire trainer Ben Davison is a sign that he’s nervous about his chances in their Feb. 22 rematch
Deontay Wilder looks at change in Tyson Fury’s corner and sees turmoil. But Fury embraces change, calling it an inevitable step in a never-ending quest to get better.
Wilder says Fury’s surprising decision to fire trainer Ben Davison and hire SugarHill Steward is a sign that he’s nervous about his chances in their Feb. 22 rematch on Fox/ESPN+ pay-per-view.
“He changes trainers like he changes his drawers,’’ Wilder said at a news conference this week in Los Angeles, just across the street from where they fought to a controversial draw more than 13 months ago at Staples Center.
But, Wilder suggests, the move from one trainer to another will only leave Fury dizzy and without answers.
“If he beat me, then why all the new trainers?’’ Wilder said. “Every day it changes. Firing and hiring. He wants to talk about being out of shape the first time, but he was in great shape. He spent 100,000 [British] pounds on all those camps.
“I still to this day have the same people with me and I don’t need to change it.’’
Wilder has always been with Jay Deas and began working with Mark Breland in 2008. A familiar face in the corner is believed to be a significant, yet intangible factor, especially amid the pressure and potential adversity in a big fight. For Wilder and Fury, no fight is bigger than their rematch.
Fury says Steward is a familiar face. He got to know him years ago while sparring at the Kronk Gym for SugarHill’s namesake and mentor, the late Emanuel Steward.
The change in Fury’s corner was prompted by what happened in the bloody decision over Otto Wallin on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas. Fury’s father complained that his son looked unprepared. He blamed Davison, saying a change was necessary if his son hoped to beat Wilder in a rematch. Three months later, Davison was gone.
Fury said he was ready to move on anyway. He said he had grown stale.
“You’re never a finished article,’’ Fury said. “You can always improve. I like to keep freshening things up every now and again. I don’t make excuses. I won fair and square and we get to do it again. I’m ready for a fight today.
“I’m looking for a knockout. That’s why I hired SugarHill. He gets you to sit down on that big right hand. That’s what I’m looking for. There’s the game plan. If I wasn’t looking for a knockout, I would have sharpened up what I did in the last fight. I’m not coming for that. I’m looking for my 21st knockout.’’
