Many sportsmen can’t take losing, and it looks as if we can add Deontay Wilder to this list. The American boxer has recently come out saying he lost his title fight against Tyson Fury last Sunday because his walk-on costume was “too heavy”.
The costume, which was a tribute to Black History month, featured armour, a mask and a crown, which he said weighed around 18.1kg.
As a result of this, he said he “didn’t have the legs” for the fight.
Here are five of the most comedic sporting excuses for simply not being as good as their opposition…
- No Michael Jackson
According to former Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed, Fulham getting relegated in the 2013/14 Premier League season was because they removed a statue of Michael Jackson two years after it was installed in 2011. New owner Shahid Khan Decided to remove the statue, to Fayed’s disappointment, saying “Now the new owner will regret it because I warned him. I said ‘You will pay with blood for that’ because it was something loved by people.”
- Stadium is too big- Paula Hutaniemi
Finnish javelin thrower Paula Hutaniemi was woeful in the 2004 Athens Olympics, but there was a good reason. “The big stadium surprised me,” she said. “I couldn’t direct the javelin right.”
- Slow ball boys- Jose Mourinho
Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho sensationally claimed that United’s poor home form was partly due to Red Devils’ ball boys. Mourinho was apparently ‘unhappy’ at the speed the ball boys returned the ball. Although, Mason Mount revealed ‘The Special One’ regularly gave ball boys instructions after Mourinho recently praised a ball boy for Tottenham’s victory over Olympiakos. So maybe he’s onto something with this one…
- Loud Frogs- Vladislav Vashchuk
At the 2006 Football World Cup Ukraine blamed their 4-0 loss against Spain on some pesky amphibians. Vladislav Vashchuk said in a post-match interview that the team didn’t win because they couldn’t get a wink of sleep the night before “because of the frogs” not because they were completely outclassed all game, of course.
- Addiction to gaming- David James
When he was Liverpool’s No 1, fans attributed “Calamity” James’s goal-mouth lapses to his partying. However, James blamed an addiction to video games, claiming they affected his concentration. In 1997, after letting in three Newcastle goals, he said he’d been up late playing Tekken and Tomb Raider.
Pic by Zach Catanzareti- creative commons license
