The trilogy match between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder set for October 9th is starting to heat up. BT Sport announced that they would be offering the event on pay-per-view for British boxing fans.
https://twitter.com/BTSportBoxing/status/1435543652475019265?s=20
However, the company decided to bust a shot at the former champion in the process. BT Sport decided to label the broadcast “The Gypsy King” vs. “The Pretender” on social media. It followed up with the equally polarizing “Glory” vs. “Redemption.”
BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels provided by BT Consumer. The network is a division of the BT Group in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Although networks usually provide more promotion and highlight the A-side fighter of a promotion, non are as partisan as this.
It is unclear if the company’s head approved this or a social media manager is taking liberties. Nonetheless, the slight is significant and firmly pits the U.K. vs. America in the heavyweight battle.
Misunderstood?
Wilder’s been at the mercy of the media and the fans since losing to Fury in February 2020. Wilder employed a bevy of excuses for the seventh-round TKO loss. The ornate Black History tribute walk-out outfit was too heavy, and it threw his legs off.
https://twitter.com/BronzeBomber/status/1409666994438250501?s=20
Later, the receipts would show that Wilder admitted to training with a 45lb vest, which annihilated this theory. Then it was referee Kenny Bayless’ fault. According to Wilder, the ref was unfairly delivering warnings that he didn’t enforce on Fury.
Fury was given a point deduction in the fifth round for unleashing a punch after breaking them apart.
Next was Anthony Dirrell, the former super middleweight champion’s fault for yelling, ‘throw in the towel’ at the Wilder camp. According to Wilder, Breland and Dirrell have a relationship, and Dirrell’s head coach is also Fury’s in Sugarhill Steward.
Then he turned on his trainer, Mark Breland. Subsequently, Wilder felt the trainer should have recognized that he was still in the fight. Instead, Breland threw in the towel, saving Wilder from a possible KO.
In a career defined by his right hand bringing the force of God on people, Deontay Wilder did not take losing well at all. Since then, he was employed Malik Scott as his new head trainer and dropped training videos on social media.
Deontay Wilder got his mind right and is ready for war, as he tells @mrosenthal_box & I this week on the #PBCPodcast. Haters, lovers, you’re all welcome to enjoy. #boxing #FuryWilder3 https://t.co/EYw3RxdhUk
— Kenneth Bouhairie (@KBouhairie) September 8, 2021
Wilder seems to be re-learning the fundamentals of boxing and having fun again.
“I’ve been happy and even happier in my time off,” said Wilder during a pre-fight press conference in June. “I had time to spend with my family, and now I’m rejuvenated and ready to go.
“Been training non-stop during the pandemic and I’ve been building. All this time between fights is going to be good for me and bad for him. I’ve had nothing but time to progress.”
The Shade
However, Wilder is also throwing shade as he told the PBC podcast, “I know he wasn’t doing well in camp. The young guys were piecing him up. I had a young guy from my camp who was piecing him up.”
Deontay Wilder on Tyson Fury's COVID postponement: "They're trying to run away from it, I'm running to it. I don't believe he had COVID… I know he wasn't doing well in camp. The young guys were piecing him up. I had a young guy from my camp who was piecing him up." [PBC Podcast]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 8, 2021
New trainer Malik Scott echoed the sentiment on the PBC podcast.
“When you hear those kinds of rumors with this type of high calibre fight, those are not rumors, those are facts.”
It isn’t clear who WIlder is referring to. However, Fury’s sparring partners are known. The Brit used Michael Hunter, Christian Thun, Jared Anderson, and Efe Ajagba among his sparring partners for this third fight with Wilder.
