Deontay Wilder says he is considering sacking his co-trainer, Mark Breland, for throwing in the towel against Tyson Fury and suggested he was influenced by someone with ties to the Gypsy King’s camp. The Bronze Bomber forfeited his WBC heavyweight title on Saturday night in Las Vegas, twice hitting the canvas before his corner stopped the fight in the seventh round – though his head coach, Jay Deas, revealed he had not given his okay to Breland to throw in the towel.
Wilder was unhappy in the ring afterwards, saying he wanted to ‘fall on his shield’, and has now gone a step further and is considering axing Breland, claiming boxer Anthony Dirrell – who is trained by Fury’s new coach SugarHill Steward – influenced the decision
‘I still had my mind. I still knew what I was doing at certain times. I still knew how to move around the ring. Although I didn’t have the legs, I knew how to move around the ring. Sh*t, I was 42-0, you know, 10 consecutive title defenses. I know what I’m doing in there.
‘It may look a certain type of way, but when you’re talking about a Deontay Wilder, I’m never out of a fight because of my tremendous power. We’ve seen that many a times. I’m never out of a fight. And I’d rather go out on my shield and my sword than anything. ‘You know, by [Breland] knowing that and then Jay [Deas], which is the head trainer, Jay told him not to do so. He still proceeded with it. It’s kinda hurtful, man. It really makes you think about different things.
‘I don’t wanna put negative thoughts in my head or have any kind of conspiracy theories going on, but it makes you think. Somebody that did something that’s not up to him, and even when they’re instructed not to, they still proceeded on. ‘And then getting influenced by the opposite team, one of the guys that train with the opposite trainer, you know, it makes you think. ‘He was influenced by [Anthony] Dirrell. They said Dirrell was in back of him screaming, “Throw the towel in! We love our champ!” And, you know, [Dirrell] works with ‘Sugar’ as well, the opposite trainer, Tyson’s trainer. [Dirrell] works with him, too.
‘It’s a lot going on with Mark as well. But, you know, we’re gonna make a big decision by the time I come back from Africa. And we’re gonna go from there.’
