BOXING fans were convinced Deontay Wilder dressed as Lord of the Rings villain Sauron for his ring walk to face Tyson Fury.
The American champion was compared to Sauron as he dressed from head to toe in a £31,000 shimmering black suit resembling body armour – complete with a black mask, crown and glowing red eyes – before his shock defeat.
Deontay Wilder walked out to the Tyson Fury fight in a full black costume with face mask and crownCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Deontay Wilder wears a black costume with glow-up red eyes – like LOTR villain Sauron
His entrance became even more dramatic when the holes around his eyes suddenly started glowing red.
One boxing fan joked: “Deontay Wilder with that Sauron energy.”
Another said: “Is Deontay Wilder actually Sauron? #WilderFury2”
And one tweeted: “Deontay Wilder “The Bronze Bomber” more like Sauron “Lord of Mordor” if you ask me.”
Wilder, 34, was also compared to an Avengers villain, a Power Ranger and even a giant chess piece.
The US champ admitted he splashed out over £30k on his costume, which he insisted was a nod to Black History Month.
Wilder said: “Oh my goodness! It’s going to be amazing man.
“Come Saturday night, one of the things that I made a promise to myself talking to my advisor Al [Haymon], when I got to a certain point into my career, I said, ‘I wanna give the boxing fans, I wanna give the world something that they can remember me by’.
“Not only just the knockouts, but me expressing myself before coming out and entering into the ring.
“Along with the music it’s going to be a big tribute to a lot of the men and women that paved the way for us, this is Black History Month, and I am just going to be paying tribute to that.
“I hope a lot of people take away this event and a lot of what we are doing, and witness greatness.
“Spending money on these costumes and stuff, whether it’s [$10K to $40K], I know they’re going to turn to millions.
“It’s gonna be 10 million, 40 million, after I get finished, because of the things I’ve done in boxing and the way I was able to do it in.”
SunSport also revealed his mask was inspired by 60s horror film The Devil Rides Out starring movie legend Christoper Lee.
Fury, on the other hand, was CARRIED into the ring on a throne dressed as a king.
The Gypsy King, 31, looked cool as a cucumber as he came out to Crazy by Patsy Cline.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
