Tyson Fury has backtracked on a jibe he made at Deontay Wilder this week, amid the renewal of old accusations against the Briton.
As Fury and Wilder build towards their upcoming fights in April, against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Derek Chisora respectively, Wilder has repeated past claims that Fury cheated during their rivalry.
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Fury and Wilder fought to a controversial draw in 2018, with many fans believing the latter was fortunate not to lose, before Fury stopped the American in 2020 and 2021. Wilder had claimed that his first defeat by the Briton was down to spiked water, his ring-walk outfit being too heavy, and Fury’s gloves being tampered with.
And this week, after Wilder rehashed the narrative that his rival is a “cheat” – which Fury has always denied – the “Gypsy King” fired back on Instagram. Fury, 37, posted a video of his 2021 knockout of Wilder, 40, writing: “The cheat was clear to see, big right hook was all it took.”
But hours later, Fury posted a fresh Instagram story, speaking to camera and saying: “I’m just sat here, thinking about all the stuff that Deontay Wilder’s been saying recently, and even me, I got sort of dragged into posting stuff – a video of me knocking him out and whatever.
“I’ve just deleted that, I took it off my story, because rather than retaliate and hate on somebody [and] rather than just go back and forward with him, saying he’s deluded and all that, I’m just gonna pray for him.
Tyson Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in 2021 (pictured), having done the same in 2020 (Getty Images)
“I’m gonna ask God to help him. He obviously needs the help, and I’m not getting involved in pettiness. The fights were won fair and square, and that’s it. I’m gonna pray for him, and I’m gonna ask the Father to bring him back to the light, because this man is lost. Lost soul, and I beg Jesus to return him to the Kingdom.
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“And although this man probably doesn’t like me for whatever reason – I don’t know why, because I made him a hell of a lot of money, tens of millions – tough times can make people say and do crazy things.
“Whatever he says, I take it with a pinch of salt. I know it’s not personal. And I hear he’s a brother in Christ these days, and any brother in Christ is always welcome to come and train at mine. If he needs to get away, if needs to do some training, my door’s always open – even if the man don’t like me or whatever. Door’s always open there for you. We shared some great fights over the years.”
Wilder will take on Britain’s Derek Chisora in London on 4 April (Getty)
Wilder’s defeats by Fury were the first of his career, and they kickstarted a poor run of form for the ex-WBC heavyweight champion. Although Wilder bounced back by stopping Robert Helenius in 2022, he suffered back-to-back losses against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang over the next two years.
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The latter knocked out Wilder in 2024, and the American’s sole fight since then was a seventh-round stoppage of Tyrrell Anthony Herndon last June. On 4 April, he will aim to build on that result as he boxes Chisora at London’s O2 Arena.
Seven days later, Fury emerges from his fifth retirement to take on Arslanbek Makhmudov at an unknown UK venue. With that, Fury will aim to bounce back from the first two losses of his career – a pair of defeats by Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.
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