A stunning and controversial Deontay Wilder knockdown remains missing without a trace after a WBN investigation.
The former WBC heavyweight champion was defeated by the little-known Harry Sconiers in 2010. Golden Boy hailed the clash as Wilder’s “toughest test to date,” but footage is nowhere to be found.
For years, World Boxing News has searched high and low for the whereabouts of any video containing the incident.
Fall of Deontay Wilder
Taking place at Fantasy Springs twelve years ago, Wilder reportedly went down for more than ten seconds and was saved by the bell to avoid losing just his thirteenth fight.
WBN obtained eyewitness accounts and references from Wilder himself and from trainer Jay Deas. However, none of those obtained shed more light on the mystery.
As explained above, several social media links to the video and photos are dead. At the same time, WBN has contacted Golden Boy, Fantasy Springs and Televisión Mexicana for footage.
Headlined by Eloy Pérez vs. Dominic Salcido, Solo Boxeo obtained the rights to broadcast the event in Mexico. WBN has since learned that they only taped the main event.
Fantasy Springs spokesman Michael Felci investigated the files at the request of WBN. In the end, they could only find photographs.
One of which accompanies this article.
Golden Boy, who has been accused by some fans of ‘burying’ what would have been a damaging clip of Wilder, responded via Robert Diaz.
GBP’s VP and matchmaker could only push us in the right direction. In the end, a dead end was reached.
So what really happened that night?
Two men who were no doubt there that night have commented in previous interviews.
rabbit punch
Wilder himself told The Opening Kickoff on WNSP-FM 105.5: “Early in my career, I was written off. I got a rabbit punch in the back of the head.
“When the blow happened instantly, my neck started to swell. There was a knot back there. It was kind of a blackout feeling.
“By the time I got back up, the referee was in my face. I was like, “what’s going on?”
Deas, his co-manager with Shelly Finkel, told Tha Boxing Voice: “Harold Sconiers, who didn’t have a great record but had just knocked out Andre Purlette.
“He had forty wins and three losses in the Deontay fight, so we knew he was a live guy.
“Deontay took him down twice and moved in for the kill. Sconiers threw a punch. He landed like on the back of Deontay’s head. But he still counted.
Wilder wins by KO
“Deontay took it well, got up and stopped him in the next round. So he can happen to anyone. It’s just one of those things in boxing.
“Behind the head, but hey, it’s boxing. What are you going to do, complain? You have to get back up. You have to do the work.
Deontay Wilder did it in the fourth after knocking down Sconiers four times. But that fact still cannot deviate from what actually happened.
Maybe we’ll never know. Or maybe there’s someone out there with grainy pictures of the fall.
Also, if you were in the crowd that night on October 15, 2010 at Fantasy Springs in California, please contact Phil Jay on WBN. [[email protected]]or WBN [[email protected]].
WBN editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. He follows WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
