Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin gave his take on the statements that were made by Deontay Wilder, who claimed that his 40-pound ring-walk outfit played a role in his February rematch with Tyson Fury.
Wilder explained that his ring-walk outfit had weakened his legs and took away his energy, which led to two knockdowns and a seventh round stoppage loss to Fury, who walked away with the WBC heavyweight title.
Martin is not exactly sympathetic to Wilder’s claim. And even if true, Martin says the blame falls on Wilder.
“He said it weighed 40-pounds? Why would you wear that? They didn’t bring it to him on the day of the fight. ‘Here’s the 40-pound suit you’ve got to wear!’ He knew the suit weighed 40-pounds. So why wear it? That’s his fault. Ain’t nobody’s fault but his,” Martin told Sky Sports.
“It’s stupid to wear 40-pounds of weight on your body when you’ve already got skinny legs. Be smart. Who does that? We’re cool but I’d fight any of the top guys.”
Martin saw action on the undercard of that event, which took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he knocked out Gerald Washington in the co-feature.
“The last session before the fight I said: ‘I’ll knock him out with the left cross’. My manager said: ‘You won’t’. But it presented itself and I caught him. That can happen to anybody – but it happened to Gerald Washington,” Martin said.
“My sweetest punch? I landed a hook on this guy in Louisiana. I threw a straight left at his chest, a decoy just to keep him still, then I hit him with a hook. Boom! There’s nothing like knocking someone out with your opposite hand with a hook or a right uppercut.”