Deontay Wilder’s head coach Jay Deas denies throwing the towel in

Deontay Wilder’s corner threw in the towel during the seventh round of his rematch with Tyson Fury on Saturday night, but it was not his head coach Jay Deas who made the toss.

Deas revealed that the decision to throw in the towel had come from trainer Mark Breland.

“The Gypsy King” knocked down “The Bronze Bomber” twice throughout their anticipated rematch at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the seventh round, Fury’s dominance peaked, as he cornered his opponent and unloaded some punches. Wilder appeared rattled and unable to counter Fury’s heavy shots. His corner reacted by throwing the towel in. The referee followed by calling an end to the fight and ultimately awarding Tyson Fury the victory by TKO.

The Bronze Bomber had absorbed some significant damage but insisted he was not ready to quit. In his post-fight interview he said:

“I’m doing good you know, things like this happen. The best man won on the night. But my coach, my side threw in the towel, and you know, I’m ready to go out on my shield,” he said.

“I just wish that my corner would have let me went out on my shield. I’m a warrior, that’s what I do. But he did what he did, there’s no excuses and we come back and be stronger.”

Deas confirmed that trainer Mark Breland overruled him by throwing the towel in and that he does not agree with the decision (via the Daily Mirror):

“Mark Breland threw in the towel, I didn’t think he should have. Deontay is a go out on his shield kind of guy.

“The head coach doesn’t always call the play. Mark said something about throwing the towel in and I said don’t do that. The fight went a little longer and I saw the towel go in. I haven’t seen Mark to talk about it but we will talk about it.

Despite the disappointing outcome for Deas, he congratulated Tyson and his camp on the victory:

“Deontay is doing well and he’ll be back and all the better for it. But congratulations to Tyson and his team.”

Do you think Deontay Wilder’s team should have let the fight continue for longer? Let us know in the comments below.