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Boxing is a very great sport, but it’s also a very brutal and vicious sport. It’s one of those sports where your life is on the line, and some fighters are willing to fight to the death, including former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. This past Saturday, Wilder would suffer his first loss as he was stopped in the 7th-round by Tyson Fury. Wilder not only lost, but he got beat up by Fury.
In that 7th-round, Fury had Wilder cornered and unloaded with a series of power punches that prompted Wilder’s corner to stop the bout. After the fight, Wilder had this to say.
“The best man won tonight, but my corner threw in the towel, and I was ready to go out on my shield,” he said.
Essentially, by “going out on his shield,” Wilder was willing to die, which he told ESPN’s Dan Rafael.
“If I say statements like I want to kill a man (in the ring), then I have to abide by those same principles in the ring of him doing the same thing to me,” Wilder said. “I’d rather die than go out with someone throwing the towel in.”
Those words sound good until someone dies, and sadly, we have seen that recently in the sport of boxing with the deaths of Maxim Dadashev and Patrick Day.
Wilder’s co-trainer Mark Breland did what he had to do, so knock him if you want, which Wilder’s head trainer and manager Jay Deas did at the post-fight press conference, but Breland knew that his fighter’s equilibrium was off and that he had no legs. Furthermore, Breland knew that Wilder had no answers for the 6’9″ 273-pound Fury, who was hitting Wilder with ease. Fury punished Wilder and would have kept punishing him if Breland did not save him.
The 34-year-old Wilder has a lovely fiancee’ and many children. Plus, he is rich. Wilder made a lot of money for this fight against Fury. Also, he still in line to make a bunch of money, as he officially exercised the rematch clause on Sunday night.
When it’s all said and done, Wilder, who is very unhappy with the towel being thrown in, will realize that he has more life to give not only in the ring but outside the ring.
Again, “going out on your shield” sounds good, but when it actually happens, it’s a whole different story.
Photo: Photos from Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions