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Jay Deas did not throw in the towel on Deontay Wilder as first believed.
Deontay Wilder wanted to “go out on his shield” in his TKO loss to Tyson Fury, and it seems as if his own trainer agreed with him.
While the towel was thrown in from Wilder’s corner as he took a sustained beating against the new WBC heavyweight champion, longtime head trainer Jay Deas revealed that he wasn’t the one who made the call to protect his fighter. Former welterweight champion and assistant trainer Mark Breland decided enough was enough, and Deas disagreed.
“Mark [Breland] threw the towel,” Deas said in the post-fight press conference. “I didn’t think he should’ve. Deontay’s the kind of guy that’s a ‘go out on his shield’ kind of guy and he will tell you straight up, ‘don’t throw the towel in.’
“You’ve got to consider also that Deontay is a fearsome puncher,” Deas said. “That’s always a difficult thing because he does always have that shot to land a big shot and turn things around, so that’s what happened there. Deontay is doing well and he’ll be back and he’ll be all the better for it. Congratulations absolutely to Tyson and to his team. A class act all the way around and we’re thrilled to be a part of the show with him.”
Considering how lopsided the fight was and how obviously damaged, disoriented, and fatigued Wilder looked, this really does not come off as a good statement from Deas. One for airing out the disagreement with his own assistant, and two that he justified letting the fight continue in the first place. Short of that puncher’s chance, it was going to be a prolonged, potentially career-altering thrashing courtesy of Fury. That busted eardrum wasn’t going to magically get better, and you have to look out for your fighter even if he doesn’t want his team to save him.
It’s not known whether Kenny Bayless made the call himself to stop the fight or if the commission had alerted him that Wilder’s corner wanted to end proceedings, but Mark Breland should be praised for trying to protect his fighter, no matter what Jay Deas thinks.