Undefeated heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder collected his 37th knockout in his 38 fights as a professional on Saturday, February 25. Then hours later, the WBC belt holder is said to have thrown hands once again, this time in the lobby of the Alabama hotel he was staying at, and against a more notable fighter in heavyweight prospect Dominic Breazeale. While judging by accusations made by Breazeale, one would think Wilder was going for an unofficial knockout to even up with his amount of wins, as Wilder denied touching Breazeale. This leads the public to revert to footage of the incident, which was obtained by TMZ and spread to various media outlets on Sunday, February 26.

So much commotion broke out during the altercation that it is difficult to make out what aggression took place amidst the crowded vicinity. But in at least one instance the 31-year-old champ is seen pushing a man who seemingly attempts to calm him, away. He is then seen being restrained by a half-dozen or more people as one woman pleads, another chants his name, and scores of others holler in a cacophony of voices trying to get a word in edgewise.

Wilder had just staged a rally to come from behind and end his fight with Gerald Washington with a sensational fifth round stoppage. Breazeale also fought on Saturday night, and wasn't too shabby himself, battling through a slugfest that ended when he too stopped his man [Izuagbe Ugonoh] in the fifth. There are conflicting stories as to how the Wilder/Breazeale tiff was set off, but word from Breazeale's camp is that some of Breazeale's family members, including his son, were cheering for Wilder to lose, and Wilder's brother, who was sitting by them, took exception and confronted the bunch. Breazeale says that while crossing paths in the lobby later on, Wilder and "a mob of about twenty people, unprovoked" attacked his team and family, thereby setting him off.

Wilder dismissed Breazeale's claims in a lengthy Twitter response that read:

"We all know there are two sides to every story and the story the world has been told thus far is wrong. Breazeale confronted my brother in the arena and told him he would kill my entire family. There were many witnesses to this. My brother was the one provoked. I was very upset when I heard about that incident. THIS IS MY ONLY BROTHER AND I AM HIS KEEPER.

I did want to confront Breazeale, man to man and face to face, but just because we are fighters doesn’t mean we always have to act with violence and my only intention was to speak with him. I’m sure many of you have seen me on many occasions and those that know me knows I don’t travel with a Big Entourage In Fact, I don’t believe in it.

I was accused of having a MOP OF 20 People and that’s just ridiculous. I approached Breazeale in the lobby Alone as my Team stood back and immediately a member of his team grabbed me. My brother was punched, people close to Breazeale yelled cuss words at me, and I lost my cool. My only concern was the safety of my family and my only brother.

First, I did NOT throw a punch. Second, I did NOT make a comment about Breazeale’s children. Anything else you have heard is a lie because no matter how heated or protective I may be, I’m not the kind of man to go after someone’s kids. I understand how this incident looks given that I am heavyweight champion, but I want to ensure people I did not act in the manner Breazeale has claimed and the videos are clear about that.

The statements from his team were untrue and a defamation of my character. I will go to great lengths to prove that.”

Source: youtube.com