Deontay Wilder suffered instant regret in the form of a first-career knockdown after showing a member of the old guard contempt.
The 2010 incident against veteran heavyweight Harry Sconiers handed Wilder his maiden trip to the canvas and, many believe, his first knockout defeat.
Controversy surrounds the fight, as World Boxing News has reported on many occasions. Wilder had to take the trip to the canvas on the chin after trying to get inside the head of Sconiers at the weigh-in.
According to Sconiers, Wilder used an ‘over-the-top intimidation technique’ to prove he was the man. Sconiers didn’t buy it then, nor did he in the ring. He waited for his chance to make Wilder regret his disrespect.
When the time was right early on, and Wilder got too confident, Sconiers unleashed a haymaker and sent the future WBC heavyweight champion flying. In a debate that has raged for fourteen years and which WBN has never been able to corroborate, Wilder was reportedly down for over eleven seconds at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
Ring Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Dougie Fischer, at ringside for the fight, stated his thoughts on the knockdown.
“I was at the Sconiers fight. It was on the undercard of an Eloy Perez fight. I can tell anyone who wasn’t there that Wilder was not only dropped hard by the journeyman. If memory serves me, it was the second round – he dropped Sconiers, and then Sconiers dropped him. He got up on very wobbly legs, but he survived.”
Deontay Wilder ‘buried’ video may show Harry Sconiers ‘knocked him out’ https://t.co/qLQdXu8OUM #boxing pic.twitter.com/hux8MJFFF9
— World Boxing News (@WorldBoxingNews) July 9, 2020
Fischer’s account doesn’t match the damaging rumor mill, which states Wilder got up after a slow count of ten or more. However, Wilder would have received the benefit of the doubt had Golden Boy Promotions not buried the footage in the aftermath.
The evidence suggests Wilder had something to hide after racking up a record of stopping every opponent within four rounds. At the time, he was the future of Oscar De La Hoya‘s company until a split with Al Haymon.
WBN repeatedly asked GBP and Fantasy Springs to provide the footage, but they could not despite videographers filming the fight. Fantasy Springs informed WBN that they only had footage of the main event. Golden Boy failed to respond to several requests for the video.
Golden Boy also deleted ancient social media posts using the ‘yfrog’ form on social media. Therefore, it will be tough to prove unless someone from the company breaks out and talks about the incident.
Wilder was only 12-0 then and would go another ten years before suffering a loss. It could have been very different had Sconiers been given the verdict. As history stands, Wilder dropped Sconiers four times and halted him in four rounds. Those facts will never alter unless someone eventually speaks out.
Sconiers must be content with being the first man to put Deontay Wilder on the floor.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
