Wilder confirms Fury III, rues 40-pound costume

(1:49)Former heavyweight world titlist Deontay Wilder told ESPN on Monday that he will "definitely" exercise his right to an immediate third fight with Tyson Fury.Fury, the lineal champion who took Wilder's WBC belt, knocked Wilder down twice and stopped him when Wilder's co-trainer, Mark Breland, threw in the towel as Fury was pounding Wilder in a corner during the seventh round of their mega rematch on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas."We're definitely going to exercise it," said Wilder, who fought to a disputed draw with Fury 14 months ago. He said he knew as soon as he got into the ring that there was a problem with his legs, which he believes was the result of his miscalculating the weight of the costume he wore into the ring."There were a lot of things that went wrong leading up to the fight, in the last minutes before the fight, but I accept full responsibility," Wilder said. That's what I do."Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Fury's co-promoter, said he was surprised that Wilder would wear such heavy gear going to the ring, and he pointed out the potential effects of the outfit's full mask."Well, I don't know about the legs affecting his performance, but he had to be very, very negligent coming in with that head covering because that choked off his oxygen, and I'm sure that had an effect," Arum said. Wilder said he was ticked off that Kenny Bayless, among the most experienced championship referees in boxing, did not adequately protect him, though he did dock one point from Fury in the fifth round."I don't understand certain things that Bayless was doing because he came in the back room [for the final instructions], and he looked me in my eyes, and he said that he would disqualify me or take two points from me if I threw rabbit punches or punched after the break," Wilder said. I'm never out of a fight."Wilder said that even though he was clearly losing the fight and had been knocked down twice, he still had his faculties in the seventh round."I still had my thoughts in my mind. It really hurt me," Wilder said of Breland's decision to throw in the towel.At the postfight news conference, Wilder's co-trainer Jay Deas said he did not agree with Breland's decision to end the fight."Mark threw the towel. I can correct things, be optimistic and move forward."Arum said that technically Wilder has 25 days -- not the widely reported 30 days -- from the night of the fight to formally exercise his right to another fight with Fury."Let's see how this all plays out, and just know that whatever decision the Wilder camp makes, Top Rank and Tyson Fury will respect it," Arum said.