I think this deserves its own thread because Wilder not only let himself down on a personal level by telling Fury direct he was giving him no respect but also missed a big opportunity to endear himself to the casuals and gain fans if he wants to continue. When an opponent in any sport offers you his hand after the event you should reciprocate and put aside all the talk and ego and act like a man. Poor from Wilder. He's actually still a 12 y/o school bully inside that 6'7" body.
He's not the brightest and he was suffering very badly in that moment. Everything you wrote is true but I tend to cut him some slack. His first utterances since (for all that they are second hand) have also been encouraging. Fury's offer to pray for him to "soften his hart" were awesome
Yeah, he really let himself down with that one, after putting up a decent performance he should have at least acknowledged the best man won.
He's hard to like outside of his KO highlight reel. His disrespect towards past greats. A sore loser. He's also so full of himself that after a big defeat in the 2nd fight, he says he has nothing learn. And this is before we dive into his long list of excuses. Plus he talks like he really struggles with comprehension. And he built and encouraged a fan base that promotes divisiveness amongst race. There really isn't much left to like. The way he fought for his daughter is commendable. But it really gets overshadowed by everything else.
He represents much of the worst aspects of boxing, from being a paper champion who cherry picked his way to a title and multiple title defences, ducking mandatories, co-opting a sanctioning body into perpetuating his fraudulent reign, to the racist fan base, promoting the idea that boxing is all about power not skill, refusing to unify not against 1 but 2 unified champions, it goes on and on. Hell him being an ungracious loser doesn't even make the top 3 of the worst aspects of him as a boxer.
The words 'fool', 'to' and 'himself' jump to mind. Wilder is an impressionable man who has been lied to and led down some dark, dark pathways.
Wilder reminds me of Forrest Gump in that he's not a smart man and he's from Alabama, but he's much less honorable and likeable than Forrest.
Agreed. Everyone can seem like a great guy when you're winning. It's how you handle DEFEAT which shows the true character of someone. Also, all of the lame excuses he keeps making. Just a bad look.
I know I'm going to get attacked for this but... .... First of all, it should be said that outside of Breaz, Wilder had almost always shown good sportsmanship after the bell rings. Now, I understand wanting and enjoying seeing respect after a fight. Its one of my favorite aspects to boxing and mma. And I especially like when competitive rivalries (Froch vs Groves for example) that have a bit of heat to them, end in respect. But Fury vs Wilder isn't just a competitive rivalry. This isn't Froch Groves. Wilder genuinely, genuinely dislikes Fury to a large degree. And since there is genuine dislike on his end, on a personal level that goes beyond competition, I don't get everyone's obsession with wanting Wilder to hug it out with Fury. Everyone acts like they hate fakeness, but when a fighter genuinely dislikes someone through and through, to the level that Wilder dislikes Fury, it would be exactly that (fake) for him to turn around and play nice. Wilder genuinely dislikes Fury. What's so hard to understand about that. And he doesn't want to make nice with him and pretend otherwise. Fury beat him... and it's likely that Wilder would continue clawing his way to fight Fury until he's killed. That's the way he is. There is no peace to be made there. Wilder isn't willing to let it go. It is what it is. Now, that being said. Not shaking hands and being friendly after the fight has nothing to do with excuses. I'm fine with Wilder continuing his dislike of Fury. But where I will continue to lose respect for him is if he doesn't give Fury his due that he's the better fighter. If he comes out with excuses again, that's magnitudes worse than not wanting to shake Furys hand to me. ..... Lastly, again... Wilder is always held to a different standard. I'd love to see the top 10 favorites list of the people obsessed with Wilders lack of class with Fury and I'd be shocked if most dont have fighters with equally classless moments in their careers.
I agree poor form from Wilder but who cares, he fought like a warrior and got folded, he’s not the brightest and has had his team selling a specific narrative with/to him. Did you expect any better? I had more of a problem with AJ not shaking Whyte’s hand after smashing him in their fight..
Wilder is a grown man so no excuses. He showed his true colors after the fight. He had a chance to show sportsmanship and class but he obviously has neither. He’s a punk, dosser and he proved it once again after the fight by his behavior. For me, it put a dark cloud on his surprisingly good performance. Can you imagine if Fury didn’t get up after that KD and Wilder won by KO? His excuse making fans would have screamed even more about the “early” stoppage in the second fight. I was once neutral on Wilder but his behavior after the three Fury fights turned me against him. He acted like a spoiled brat and coward, making excuses and being a complete punk. Champions don’t act like this, even when they lose.
It seems denying Fury that final bit of closure is the final bit of spite from Wilder. The last middle finger. And I'm perfectly okay with that. If others aren't, that's their problem. It's not a popularity contest.
If that is what he said then it does sound like an acknowledgment. But to do what he did right after to Tyson was very shitty. Shared 30 rounds with him and despite the animosity, he should have shook his hand.
Wilder is devastated after last night's defeat. This is the first time he felt he lost a fight and it's going to take some time to sink in. His previous excuses were bad, but I think he will eventually come to terms with the defeat and give Fury some credit. Just don't expect it right away, because Wilder is a very prideful man. His ego has been shattered, but he can no longer hide behind excuses and he will calm down a bit in the upcoming weeks. Who knows, maybe he'll lose that bully mentality and become a bit more humble.