Deontay Wilder
On Saturday, January 17, 2015, Deontay "The Bronze
Bomber" Wilder claimed the WBC International heavyweight belt from
then reigning champ, Bermane "B Ware" Stiverne. It was a real rumble
from two tough boxers. After the bout, Stiverne was taken to the
hospital suffering from "dehydration" and as a result, missed the
post fight press conference, for which he has apologized. This week,
Stiverne's promoter, the infamous Don King, made a plea for a
rematch, which is not the best course of action.
King stated to the press, "We called this press
conference because the Bermane we saw on Saturday night was not the
Bermane we all know. Deontay Wilder did a very good job; this is not
a press conference for excuses, it is for fact. The doctors at the
hospital of the UMC said that he had a severe case of dehydration.
His muscles were not working and they thought he had blood in his
urine, so they took some tests and held him in the hospital until
this morning [Monday].
Deontay Wilder on Saturday, January 17, 2015
We want to applaud Deontay Wilder for doing his job,
but the man before him was handicapped and unable to do his job, but
that should not take anything away from his victory. Deontay
performed and did a great job. It is unfortunate, but Bermane will
have to do it another day. Knowing the champion we have in Deontay
has so eloquently stated that he will take on anybody, I am certain
without any equivocation he would grant a rematch with the real
Bermane than the man who was handicapped in the ring, not taking
away the victory he had and the way he shined."
Wilder's camp has yet to respond to King's request
on behalf of his client, Stiverne. Wilder is currently in negations
with English promoter and Box Nation owner, Frank Warren, to fight
British heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury. The Judiciary Report is not
in favor of a rematch between Wilder and Stiverne, as the latter
looked like he sustained neurological damage during the bout this
past Saturday. It is not worth Stiverne's short-term or long-term
health.
Deontay Wilder (left) vs. Bermane Stiverne (right)
Wilder walked away from the fight against Stiverne
with a broken finger, which occurred during the 5th round. Wilder's
finger should heal properly, provided he does not begin punching
with it too soon, creating worse damage (a temporary injury can turn
permanent under the wrong circumstances). Boxers often have a hard
time keeping still, as they want to be in optimal health, at great
fitness levels and competing. However, the body needs time to heal
and must be allowed this luxury to return to peak performance.
Side Bar: Wilder will fight anybody. Last
year he jokingly stated he doesn't care if they put his grandmother
in the ring, he's still going to fight. He stated his attitude would
be, "Grandma, let's make this money" (haha).
STORY SOURCE
Bermane Stiverne: I could have died from severe dehydration
suffered during Deontay Wilder fight
20, January, 2015 - TWO nights after being
hospitalised following his loss to unbeaten challenger Deontay
Wilder at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, former WBC heavyweight
champion Bermane Stiverne, his Hall of Fame promoter, Don King, and
his trainer, Don House, hosted a press conference. Here’s what they
had to say:
PROMOTER DON KING
“We called this press conference because the Bermane
we saw on Saturday night was not the Bermane we all know. Deontay
Wilder did a very good job; this is not a press conference for
excuses, it is for fact. The doctors at the hospital of the UMC said
that he had a severe case of dehydration. His muscles were not
working and they thought he had blood in his urine, so they took
some tests and held him in the hospital until this morning [Monday].
“We want to applaud Deontay Wilder for doing his
job, but the man before him was handicapped and unable to do his
job, but that should not take anything away from his victory.
Deontay performed and did a great job. It is unfortunate, but
Bermane will have to do it another day. Knowing the champion we have
in Deontay has so eloquently stated that he will take on anybody, I
am certain without any equivocation he would grant a rematch with
the real Bermane than the man who was handicapped in the ring, not
taking away the victory he had and the way he shined.
“We praise Deontay and hope he can be champion long
enough to where we can have a rematch of the ‘Return to Glory.’
“Just like our great military, when they get knocked down, they get
back up again. Even with his severe dehydration Bermane still stood
there for 12 rounds.
“We want to thank Richard Sturm, President of MGM
Grand entertainment and Stephen Espinoza with SHOWTIME Boxing for
playing a major part in getting this program together. We applaud
both our staff and the MGM staff for doing a commendable job for
making this happen. The spirit for ‘Return to Glory’ was high. We
had a great card with Amir Imam in the fight of the night, getting
knocked down and getting back up. All of the fights were
exceptional. It was a good night of boxing for the fans and that is
what we are really about.
“Don House so eloquently stated the health of
Bermane is so important so when I found out he was in the hospital,
I went to stay the day there with him because usually we just send
them to the hospital to get checked out, but they decided to hold
him. When they decided to hold him, I had to get over there and see
my fighter. The staff was terrific and very gracious to me and very
definitive about what could be wrong and investigating all aspects.
They said he is healthy and should take off a month or so to get
some rest and then get to work to prepare for his return to glory
and recapture the heavyweight crown that is currently held by a
great champion named Deontay Wilder.”
BERMANE STIVERNE
“I want to apologise for not making the post-fight
press conference. Unfortunately I was not able to perform in the
fight like I wanted to due to severe dehydration and muscle damage.
I did not know it was that serious until they told me. I could have
died from it. I am happy to just be myself, walk and talk again.
Thank God for this, that’s really what matters to me to be healthy
right now.
“I did not know the severity of it Saturday night. I
was able to give the people a good show, 12 rounds of boxing. If I
had to do it again I would do it again. This is not the end for me.
I will give it a couple weeks and then get back to work. I have a
vision for this, but right now it’s just on pause. It’s just a
matter of time before I will get back on my feet and walk again.
When it comes to my health, I have been released from the hospital.
They would not let me leave until I was sufficiently hydrated. I am
grateful. Thank you to my promoter and trainer, everyone who has
welcomed me.
“To my fans, I apologise for not being able to
perform like Bermane usually does. I know that people who really
know me, know how I fight. My last fight with Chris Arreola, I gave
you a good show. It is unfortunate that I couldn’t do what I wanted
to do with my fight with Deontay Wilder. I want to congratulate him,
he fought a good fight. Hopefully somewhere in the future we will
meet again.
“Thanks everyone for coming out to the press
conference, I am back on my feet 100 per cent right now. I just need
a couple of weeks or a month of rest to be back where I left off.”
HOW THE DRAMA UNFOLDED - DON HOUSE (Stiverne’s Trainer)
“Thank you guys for coming out. The most important
thing is that Bermane is OK. That is my main concern. I noticed
somewhere in the fight, probably around the third or fourth round,
something wasn’t right. Even though he told me he was OK, we all
know Bermane. I don’t mind losing a fight, but I knew something
wasn’t right, so I was very concerned. Around the ninth or 10th
round I was thinking to stop the fight because you don’t have to
continue, but he wanted to keep fighting.
“You didn’t see Bermane, you saw maybe 10-15 percent
of Bermane. I really believe and really felt this should have been a
decent fight for Bermane, but would last four rounds or less because
his power and speed. We never underestimated him. We trained as if
he was fighting King Kong. I train every fighter like
that,
underestimate no one. But Saturday night, we had about 15 percent of
Bermane.
“We are going to look back, see what we did wrong,
how we can do things better, what we should have done. We will take
a look at how the dehydration may have happened. We will take a look
at the fight and some of the things we did in training and find out
what we did wrong.”
