Tyson Fury sits on the throne and ascends the ring, and Deontay Wilder wears a glowing mask before the highly anticipated rematch. (0:34)

DEONTAY WILDER drove a custom black and bronze Rolls Royce to Cosmo & Donato on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, California. It was late summer, and about six weeks ago, he had a highly anticipated trilogy boxing match with Tyson Fury.

When shoppers gathered on one of the most iconic streets in Los Angeles, the former WBC heavyweight champion stepped out of the luxury car. Wilder greeted fans before entering the store, signed and picked up the baby. There, he tried on some new clothes and made fake catwalk models for the owners Cosmo Lombino and Donato Crowley.

About an hour later, it was time for Wilder to do what he wanted to do: for the first time he saw and tried the strike gear he would wear in the third Fury battle.

"We went in from behind and opened the door to reveal the clothes," Lombino said. "He's like,'Oh, my God.' He's grateful... He's happy. He's like the kid in the candy store again."

Wilder is known for his fashion because he is one of the biggest knock-out fighters in boxing history. The high-priced entry costume worth $40,000 he wore for the second Fury match in February 2020 was the most watched and controversial costume ever worn by boxers, partly because Wilder blamed his loss Its weight.

But the "Bronze Bomber" was not deterred. On Saturday, Lombino and Crowley will dress his game for the fifth consecutive time at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Wilder hopes to continue pushing the boundaries of boxing fashion.

"No one can wear a better uniform than me," Wilder said at a virtual press conference last month. "We will continue to do this. We just need to see what I am wearing. It will be special."

Wilder is not the only one who has broken the boundaries of fashion in boxing. In August, Jack Paul, a YouTuber-born prize fighter, wore a rolling LED screen on the belt of his boxer shorts against Tyron Woodley.

Following the swaggering footsteps of boxing fashion icons such as "Prince" Nasim Hamid and Hector "Macho" Camacho, Wilder and Paul became part of the new wave, and this trend has caused a lot of It is a sensation, but there are also bystanders who question whether fashion can be detrimental to the main goal of the sport: winning the battle.

Lombino and Crowley have designed costumes for Shaquille O’Neal, Clarissa Shields and Sean Porter. They designed a trilogy combat costume for Wilder, part of Inspired by the warrior’s roots, he said it can be traced back to the Edo tribe in Nigeria.

"Fashion is how you express yourself," Wilder told ESPN. "This is everyday life. Some people look at your shoes and they say they can tell you everything about you. If your shoes are dirty, they will know what type of person you are.

"When I come out, I will express myself in certain uniforms and things I wear. I think I am the best in boxing history."

In 1997, PAULIE MALIGNAGGI was 17 years old when he went to New York's Madison Square Garden to watch the game between Hamid and Kevin Kelly. There were two novice professional boxers on the cards that night, and they will continue to be world champions: Ricky Hatton and Joan Guzman.

Years later, Malignaggi vividly recalled seeing Guzman's battle, but did not remember seeing Hatton at all. reason? Guzman has bleached blonde hair and wears gorgeous clothes.

Top boxing matches are played on ESPN and ESPN. Subscribe to ESPN to get exclusive boxing events, weigh-ins and more.

ESPN2, ESPN, Saturday, October 9th at 7 pm Eastern Time: Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder 3 preliminaries

ESPN PPV, Saturday, October 9th at 9 pm Eastern Time: Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder 3 main card

"It's ironic," said Malinaji, who made headlines in the 2008 MGM Grand Garden Arena game against Hatton in Las Vegas. in many aspects. ...But Guzman, I noticed, because I remember he has a stupid style, really [unforgettable]. He has yellow hair. It impressed me. "

Inspired by Hamed, Camacho and even Guzman, Malignaggi was once one of the most dazzling stars in boxing. He wore a leopard print and sequined robe on the ring, and even once wore a lucha libre mask. Before the match against Jose Cotto in 2011, he wore a black and gold mask on his eyes, and his chest and arms were also painted with the same color paint when weighing. If he was born in Brooklyn, he would look like the ultimate WWF fighter.

"I want to add more charm to me and my style," Malignaggi said. "For me this kind of talent. It just becomes a bigger topic. I think it's very important to know how to sell yourself and to sell yourself."

Malignaggi's love of style is also a warning story. In 2008, in a match against Lovemore N'Dou in Manchester, England, he wore Lennox Lewis-style braids in his hair. The braids were not pulled back well. Malignaggi said that they were on his face the entire game and almost cost him the IBF junior welterweight title. He finally won a split decision.

After TKO FURY BEAT Wilder on February 22, 2020, Wilder stated in an interview that the weight of his strike clothing (he estimated to be more than 40 pounds) made him tired and he could not recover from the ring. Wilder The costume is a tribute to Black History Month, which includes a helmet with an electronic red eye, a crown and a body armor. The built-in laser can shoot from his hands.

Malignaggi does not necessarily buy Wilder because of equipment and lose to Fury. But he admits that, based on first-hand information, trying to create a visual sensation does not always help win the battle.

"Sometimes you get lost because you work so hard, and you lose focus on the main task at hand, which is that you have to go there to win the battle and show it," Malignaggi said. "You don't go to parties. You don't go to Met Gala or dance parties. You just make a fashion statement there. That's all people talk about."

Lombino said he and Crowley were "ashamed" that Wilder said their costumes affected his performance. But two days after he left the hospital, Wilder made a FaceTime call with them and they discussed the issue. The designer said that Wilder accused his coach Mark Breland of creating a heavy clothing narrative. Wilder subsequently fired Breiland, who gave up in the second match with Fury and replaced him with another boxer, Malexcott, who turned into a trainer for the third time. The game against Fury.

Lombino said earlier this year that they transported Wilder's clothing from Los Angeles and weighed it. He said that this costume is not 40 pounds, and it is actually not much heavier than the first four costumes he and Crowley made for Wilder.

"Because of the battery pack in the head and shoulder racks, it may be a bit heavier [than others]," Crowley said.

As early as June 2020, Lombino and Crowley prepared sketches for Wilder, which is expected to be the third battle with Fury. This idea will become the theme of the United States and the United Kingdom. But the COVID-19 pandemic and anger from the Wilder rematch to the plan to fight Anthony Joshua changed things.

After Wilder won the arbitration to maintain the contract for the third Fury game, the rematch date was set for July 2021. Lombino and Crowley said they only contacted Wilder and his girlfriend Terry Swift a few weeks ago. July date. But after the fight was postponed again after Fury tested positive for COVID, the extra time allowed them to scramble to prepare Saturday's clothing.

They said this would be much lighter. It's not that they have any regrets about the last time.

"Many people who hate it like it, but everyone is talking about it," Crowley said. "You will always have those old-school people who don't want to change anything, but why not? Why can't boxers go out like this? They are always there with a flag or a message of what they want to say. Why can't they be that time Who do they want to be? We basically created a new superhero. We brought the'Bronze Bomber' to life in a visual form."

Paul's entire boxing career has been challenging the limits and subverting. As a professional player, his record is only 4-0, but he is one of the most watched boxers in the world, with tens of millions of fans on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Of course, he will also try to stand out from the fashion sense.

In a November 2020 game against former NBA veteran Nate Robinson, Paul wore shorts made by his designer Che Young, which should glow in some kind of light. But the lights used at the Staples Center in Los Angeles that night were too dim and lost their effect.

After Paul defeated Ben Askren in April, he and Young sat down and came up with an idea for a different form of lighting: LED. Paul said that part of his inspiration came from the lights on his problem robot mascot, and Yang said his idea came from a video billboard in Times Square in his hometown of New York City.

In the match against Woodley on August 29, Paul sewed a thin paper tape called an LED matrix screen under the waistband of his shorts. There is also a small battery pack in the shorts, and there is a plastic waterproof window inside, so that everyone can see the content scrolling on the LED screen. Paul said that the shorts cost him about $15,000. He said that this outfit was not heavier or warmer than his previous combat shorts, although he was not sure what would happen if Woodley caused any blow to the LED area.

"Of course, it might break the screen," Paul said with a smile. "We didn't actually test that. Maybe for the next one, we should test that... I think if I was punched there, then yes, it might be closed or something. But it won't It doesn’t hurt. It’s like LED paper. To be honest, it’s a crazy technology. It’s super light.”

LED only scrolls the words "Jack Paul" throughout the battle, but this is not a plan. Young was using an app on his smartphone to control the LEDs, but because everyone in the Cleveland Rockets Mortgage Stadium was using Wi-Fi, the phone lost the Bluetooth connection with Paul's shorts. The idea is to change what the shorts say throughout the fight. As for what messages they plan to send, Young did not say.

"We must keep this secret next time," Yang said.

For Paul’s strike equipment, Yang ordered about a dozen jerseys and equipment from the Ohio Athletic Team, tailored them and stitched them together-"like a puzzle," he said-into a robe.

"I really want to be the future of boxing, and I think I'm doing everything to achieve this goal," Paul said. "My fighting shorts illustrate this point."

Former WBA junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis said that he thinks Paul's shorts are perfect for what he wants to achieve. LED shorts make sense to the 24-year-old Paul, just as it makes sense to wear a ski mask in Floyd Mayweather’s strike against Connor McGregor, Mayweather describes the battle For a sanctioned bank robbery.

"[Paul] is now in this new era-the era of social media, YouTube," Prograis said. "This is him; he is part of the whole culture. For him, it's cool to do this. I think if, like me or other boxers do, I think it's a bit cliche. But for him, there is a fire.

"You have to be real. This is the main thing. You can't do what other people are doing. For him, it's real. That's his lane."

The nickname of PROGRAIS is "Rougarou", which is the name of a werewolf-like creature in Creole mythology. Prograis is from New Orleans, this is his team's thoughts after the fourth game of his career, which gave him this nickname. Since his 10th game, Prograis has walked out of the ring wearing a "Rougarou" mask, and he has since upgraded it to a custom mask worth $1,000. He put on Native American costume to commemorate his native grandfather who passed away last year.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all our latest boxing news.

Shields came out with the theme of Beyoncé and Kobe Bryant. Adrien Broner and Gervonta "Tank" Davis always wear striking strike outfits. Fury was taken to the throne. Joshua’s strike in England was particularly spectacular. The spectacle has become an important part of boxing-and for some people, it is also necessary-part.

"At the end of the day, boxing is a show," Progres said. "This is a sport, but it's like any show on TV."

But no other boxer is as famous for his strike gear as Wilder-this is how he wants it. Wilder said in a TikTok video on Cosmo and Donato accounts that his outfit on Saturday will "surpass" everything he has worn so far.

Lombino and Crowley collaborated with an African research expert and used fabrics shipped from Africa to make this dress. This dress will be made of black and red. Wilder called this work a "beautiful masterpiece."

"It runs through my veins," Wilder said. "I just want to express more, my tribe and where I come from. We are all part of something, we are all from something."

On Saturday, Wilder will seek to retrieve the WBC belt that Fury took from him. After more than a year of fashion statements by others in the boxing world, Wilder's designers are eager to make their own statements again.

"We will also come back to fight for our championship title," Crowley said.