Deontay Wilder has blamed extensive travelling for his loss to Joseph Parker.

The Bronze Bomber lost a unanimous decision on the Day of Reckoning card, winning only one round on the scorecards. The performance should have been better, given that Wilder rarely threw his biggest weapon: the right hand. The defeat prevented him from fighting Anthony Joshua after they had signed a two-fight deal to face each other.

That left question marks over whether Wilder would retire. Heading into the Parker fight, he only had one round of boxing in over a year. He stopped Robert Helenius in the first round, showing he was not active coming into the Parker bout. The Helenius win was after two consecutive knockout losses to Tyson Fury. At 38, there was a perception that Wilder was not the same. Despite this, he blamed the travel arrangements for his poor performance rather than his skill.

Wilder Reacts

“It was a boring fight, nothing really happened. I went right back to training the next day. He really didn’t do nothing, they just went off the little flurries or whatever. In the training for that I had to travel two times, 20 hours of travelling. And those guys were already in Europe, they were only two or three hours away. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying what I had to go through,” Wilder said 

If that was the case, Wilder could have taken steps to prepare much better. It echoed his excuses when he lost to Fury in the second fight. The Bronze Bomber came out in a big costume, and he blamed the weight of the costume for the reason why he looked so sluggish.

That has created the narrative that Wilder cannot take a loss since he was so used to stopping his opponents. But once the right hand is neutralized, Wilder does look more vulnerable. Regardless, he has set his sights on making a strong comeback, even calling out the Unified Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Uysk if Tyson Fury withdraws from the fight again.

Wilder On Usyk

“I’m ready, I’m always ready for whoever no matter what. No matter how much training I’ve got, whether I’m three weeks in or eight weeks in, it doesn’t matter, I’m a fighter. I’m really putting myself up against anyone. I’m still that motherf***er man, don’t get it twisted.

“We’re putting all the stuff back together. I at one point in time lost the love for this business. The success did a lot to me because it really took me out of my element. I used to be a gym rat instead of just coming to the gym whenever I have fights. All of it’s changed, I’ve rededicated myself back to this s***, I’m in the gym now and taking it like a job now,” Wilder said 

Wilder’s next fight remains unclear, but if he desires to become a world champion again, he must remain active against top-quality opposition.

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