AFTER rescuing a draw with Tyson Fury with a dramatic last round knockdown, Deontay Wilder – the WBC heavyweight champion – paid tribute to Fury, but spoke of his concern about the referee’s count in that final session. Anthony Joshua, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, also came up in conversation.
“What an amazing fight, wow,” said Wilder. “I’m glad the fight lived up to the hype, too often that doesn’t happen.
“I think we both did a great promotion and the fight lived up to it.
“I don’t know how he got up, though. I don’t know why they didn’t start the count earlier, but I don’t want to make any excuses.
“I really thought I had him out of there. I hit him with the right and left hook, I saw his eyes roll. God knows how he got up.
“I had fun in there though. I am enjoying the moment.
“I have a few questions that I’m asking myself, like the count. Why did they hesitate before they started the count.
“But we both go home happy, we throw our arms around each other. We wanted to kill each other then we say, ‘Well done, bro. I’ll see you later.’
“I wanted to knock him out but I’m happy with the outcome. The fans win here. The heavyweight division is on fire right now.
“It will be easier in a rematch to hit him because I’ll be more patient. I was too anxious, I was over-shooting and my emotions got the best of me.
“I wasn’t thinking nothing about the score before the last round. Once I scored the knockdown I felt that put me over the top because it was close before that. I wanted to finish like a champion, I couldn’t just think I was ahead. Sometimes you have to up the pace and do a little bit more. I thought the knockdown sealed it.
“We knew Tyson can box and never took that for granted. For me, I got out of the gameplan, I tried to knock him out. I should just go with the flow, it’s a long night for me when I try too hard for the knockout. But I still carried on.
“It was amazing. It was draining. We break our bodies down. We might say camps are amazing but our bodies are never 100 per cent.
“Now this fight is over, I’m happy. We sacrifice so much, we think of one man.
“I would love to fight Anthony Joshua. I want to unify the titles, it makes the heavyweight division more interesting. I would love a rematch with Tyson Fury, I’m in a win-win situation. Let’s see what happens.”
