Wladimir Klitschko’s former trainer: Deontay Wilder wasn’t knocked out by Wlad

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https://www.boxingnews24.com/2020/01/wl ... t-by-wlad/

By Tim Royner: Trainer Johnathon Banks says Deontay Wilder was NEVER knocked out by Wladimir Klitschko during their sparring sessions many years ago. Banks does say that the 6’7″ Wilder was dropped by Klitschko once, but obviously that’s a far different thing than being knocked cold.




British heavyweight Dillian Whyte stated earlier this month that former IBF/WBA/WBO champion Klitschko had knocked Wilder out cold in sparring, and that he was twitching on the canvas. I

t’s unclear why Whyte would want to go overboard with retelling an old sparring story. The sparring between Wilder and Wladimir likely took place shortly before his November 2014 title defense against Kubrat Pulev.




Banks: NO truth in Wilder being knocked out by Klitschko
“I’m the one who picked Wilder and all the other sparring partners to come,” said Banks to @ThaBoxingVoice. “Did Wilder get knocked out cold in sparring by Wladimir? No, that’s the truth, it didn’t happen. Did he get dropped? Yes, he did.”

Is Whyte’s memory faulty or does he have a reason to want to make Wilder look bad? Whyte does seem bitter about being ranked #1 with the World Boxing Council for a long time, and not being given a voluntary title shot against Wilder.

It was the WBC that chose not to make Whyte the mandatory for Wilder. That’s not something that Wilder was in charge of. So the only argument that Whyte has is he didn’t get a voluntary title shot by Wilder.




Whyte gives his description of Wladimir’s sparring with Wilder
“Wlad backs up, changes his footwork, feinting, feinting, jabs to the body, throws that feint jab, left hook. Wilder had his hands up, he was gone,” said Whyte to skysports.com. “It wasn’t no knockdown, he was knocked cold. Properly twitching as well.”


Since Banks has nothing to gain from denying that Wilder was knocked out by Klitschko, you must conclude that it never happened. In other words, Whyte added his own spin to what happened in the sparring session between Wilder and Whyte.

The WBC attempted to have Whyte earn the WBC mandatory title shot in 2018 by mandating that he fight Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz, but Dillian and his promoter Eddie Hearn decided not to take part in the eliminator for some reason. They chose the arguably better paying fight between Whyte and Dereck Chisora.

News:
Andy Ruiz Jr. might want more money for Dillian Whyte fight says Hearn
It was a business that ended up delaying Whyte’s chance of getting a world title against Wilder. Maybe Whyte and Hearn believed that the WBC would change their mind about wanting him to fight in a title eliminator against Ortiz.

Obviously, they didn’t change their mind, and didn’t give Whyte the mandatory spot until he FINALLY fought and beat Oscar Rivas by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in July.