Is Deontay Wilder’s ‘too heavy’ excuse the worst in sports history?

Deontay Wilder insists that his defeat to Tyson Fury in his WBC heavyweight title fight was because the uniform he was wearing during his entrance was too heavy and it sapped his energy. Is this the worst sporting excuse ever?

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Deontay Wilder has been ridiculed from near enough everyone after coming up with a lame excuse on why he was beaten by Tyson Fury in their second fight in Las Vegas.

The ‘Bronze Bomber’ was totally outclassed by ‘The Gypsy King’ to become the WBC, The Ring and Lineal heavyweight champion of the world. Wilder’s corner decided to throw the towel in during the seventh round as Fury laid some bombs on the champion.

Wilder, who was knocked down twice during the fight, has since come out and said that the costume he wore to the ring weighed over 45 pounds and that his legs were weakened by it.

This is what he said: “He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is … that my uniform was way too heavy for me.

“I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight. In the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through.

“It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything. A lot of people were telling me, ‘It looked like something was wrong with you.’ Something was, but when you’re in the ring, you have to bluff a lot of things.

“I tried my best to do so. I knew I didn’t have the legs because of my uniform.

“I was only able to put it on [for the first time] the night before but I didn’t think it was going to be that heavy. It weighed 40, 40-some pounds with the helmet and all the batteries.

“I wanted my tribute to be great for Black History Month. I wanted it to be good and I guess I put that before anything.”

I’m sorry but that is a poor excuse, just wait while I take off my jumper because it’s a little bit heavy and I don’t think I’ll finish this article with it still on.

Imagine me saying that to my bosses, what a joke. He got beat fair and square. I would say, take it on the chin Wilder, but I’m afraid he wouldn’t get back up again.

Where does Wilder’s ‘too heavy’ excuse rank in the worst sporting excuses of all time? Let’s take a look at some of them here.

Manchester United’s Grey Kit

Yes, that is correct. Manchester United once discarded their away shirt during a game because of the colour. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were wearing their grey away shirt against Southampton and they were 3-0 down at half time. No-one gave it too much thought, we all just thought United were outplayed. Then, United came out for the second half in a different strip. They were now wearing a blue and white number. After the game, Ferguson claimed the players were having trouble seeing each other in the grey kit and they had to change it. United won the second half 1-0, so you decide if it was an excuse or truth. If you think truth, then you are wrong.

David Haye’s Toe

David Haye used the excuse that he had hurt his little toe and the broken digit was the reason why Wladimir Klitschko boxed his ears off for 12 rounds in their WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and Lineal title fight back in July 2011. To get his point across, Haye even took his shoes and socks off to show everyone the injury. Although he was unsure when the injury actually happened. That’s strange, I broke my toe once and I know exactly how it happened – I kicked a metal chair after sending a golf shot into the water on the Nintendo Wii.

Ukraine Beaten By Frogs

Don’t worry I am not being racist here. Ukraine once claimed they lost a game of football because of the amphibians. They were in Germany for the World Cup and they were scheduled to play Spain in their opening game on June 14 and their first ever World Cup match. Well, things didn’t go to plan as they were hammered 4-0 by the Spaniards. To be fair, that wasn’t out of the ordinary. At the time, Spain were miles ahead of the Ukrainians, but they still came up with a ridiculous excuse for their poor performance. Vladislav Vashchuk, who was sent off in the game, said: “Because of the frogs’ croaking we hardly got a wink of sleep. We all agreed we would take some sticks and go hunt them.”

Rory McIlroy’s Tooth Ache

Tooth ache can be very painful, I think we can all agree on that. But I don’t think I have ever blamed it on a poor performance at work. Well, golfing superstar Rory McIlroy did exactly that during a horror performance at the 2013 Honda Classic. The Irishman found himself seven-over-par after his first eight holes during play on the Friday and he then opted to walk off the course after sending his approach shot on the ninth into the water. He later blamed a sore wisdom tooth for his poor showing.

Luis Suarez ‘Loses Balance’ Before Biting Giorgio Chiellini

Football’s bad boy Luis Suarez was banned for four months for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the Italy versus Uruguay game at the 2014 World Cup. Even though it was shocking, we all weren’t really surprised considering he had done the same to Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic a year earlier, while he had also been banned for biting PSV’s Otman Bakkal when he was at Ajax. What did surprise us was his excuse. Here is what he said: “In no way it happened how you have described, as a bite or intent to bite. After the impact, I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent. At that moment, I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth.” Okay, whatever you say Luis.