Deontay Wilder Blasts Referee After Chisora Fight

Says missed calls and illegal shots blocked early stoppage

Deontay Wilder says the referee cost him an early knockout, pointing to missed calls and repeated illegal shots that he believes changed the fight.

Wilder’s frustration involved what he described as a pattern of fouls that went unpunished, particularly punches to the back of the head that affected him in real time. He argued those moments forced him to deal with damage instead of pressing for a finish.

“That’s crazy. I mean, if the ref was fair, you’re looking at a third-round stoppage,” Wilder said.

It’s hard to agree with Wilder here, mainly because his me against the world narrative is ignoring the fact that he actually got the decision. If the referee, Mark Bates, were truly out to get him, Wilder probably would have walked away with a loss or a draw on those tight scorecards.

The claim that he was fighting two people doesn’t quite hold up when you look at how the fight actually unfolded.

“I got hit in the back of the head like at least 10 to 12 different times. And then when I finally want to retaliate and hit back, you point fingers at me, ‘Deontay, don’t.’ I’m like, man, this man keep hitting me in the back of the head.”

Wilder’s frustration with shots to the back of the head is a bit of a “pot calling the kettle black” situation. In a fight this messy, where both guys were constantly falling into clinches and mauling on the inside, those shots were flying from both sides. It’s the nature of fighting a guy like Chisora, who ducks low and forces you to punch down. Wilder was landing his own clubbing shots behind the ear whenever they got tied up.

“I’m getting dizzy at times, but I’m bouncing back. I’m getting dizzy, but I’m bouncing back. You know how many fighters got hit in the head and don’t wake up tomorrow? That’s why I might not even go to sleep tonight because of the awareness of getting hit in the back of the head and you not waking up tomorrow or something happening or something forming.”

Wilder also pointed to specific rules he believes were ignored during the fight, framing his argument around enforcement rather than emotion.

“If your corner enters the ring, it’s an automatic disqualification. If you’re pushed, knocked out of the ring, you have 20 seconds to get in. You are not allowed to be helped by your corner. If you get hit and you’re falling and you grab the rope, it’s an automatic eight count. If you get hit after it’s stopped, it’s up to the discretion of the ref to take a point off.”

While Wilder fumed about the point deduction in the eighth round for pushing, it followed multiple warnings for roughhousing. Conversely, the referee ruled a slip in the eleventh as a knockdown in Wilder’s favor after Chisora tumbled through the ropes. If the officiating were biased, a referee “fighting” Wilder wouldn’t have handed him a crucial 10-8 round on a silver platter in the championship rounds.

“These are rules of the game, and they could be checked. I was afraid he was going to get robbed,” Wilder said.

It’s hard to claim you were almost robbed when you actually won the fight. He got the split decision.