Deontay Wilder will trigger rematch clause with Tyson Fury as deadline set for third fight

Deontay Wilder has confirmed that he intends to activate his rematch clause against Tyson Fury with immediate effect following his seventh-round stoppage last weekend.

The 34-year-old American suffered the first defeat of his career against Fury after being knocked down twice in Las Vegas, before Wilder’s co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel to save his fighter from what was transpiring to be a bloody beating.

Fury regained his status as world champion as a result, more than four years on from his victory over Wladimir Klitschko that won him the IBF, WBA and WBO versions, but Wilder revealed that he intends to go on holiday in Africa until the end of March before resuming his boxing career with a trilogy fight against Fury.

Under the terms of their pre-fight contract, Wilder has 30 days to activate his rematch clause from the night of the bout, and a third fight between the pair must be organised before the end of July, ensuring they will collide three times in the space of 19 months.

Speaking to Yahoo Sport, Wilder also confirmed that he did not suffer a broken jaw or perforated ear drum as many had suspected, and blamed his three-stone outfit that he wore to the ring in recognition of Black History Month as the cause of his loss for sapping the energy from his legs.

“He didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is ... that my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder told Yahoo Sports. “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. But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior. 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.”

But it appears that Wilder will not have former world champion Mark Breland in his corner after Wilder criticised his for throwing in the towel during the seventh round, prompting the referee’s intervention.

Wilder, who confirmed he would remove Breland from his team, added: “I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional.

“I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principle of receiving.

“So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.”

“I understand he was looking out for me and trying to do what he felt was right, but this is my life and my career and he has to accept my wishes.”