Shelly Finkel is not willing to go so far as to call Tyson Fury a cheater in regards to his last bout against Deontay Wilder. But that does not mean he does not think there were some questionable tactics that Fury had used in the ring.

Finkel, an industry veteran and career-long co-manager of Wilder, was recently asked what he made of all the allegations that Wilder has lobbed at Fury in the wake of their ballyhooed rematch in 2020, which Fury won by a stunning seventh round TKO at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In addition to accusing Fury of tampering with his own gloves, Wilder cited a slew of alibis for his title-losing performance.

“Well, there’s a lot that has gone down,” Finkel said in response to a question from Boxing Social. “A lot that is emotional. Did Fury cheat? I don’t know. I don’t ever want to accuse someone of cheating, that’s a big thing. Were there some dirty tactics? I think on some footage you can see elbows and stuff.

Whatever infelicities Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) may or may not have committed inside the ring in the rematch, Finkel believes the bout would have turned out in Wilder’s favor had Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) actually been in optimum condition. Finkel says he thinks Wilder was, at best, no more than “50 or 60 percent” in that fight.

“I believe if Deontay was 80% or 90% he would have won then, too,” Finkel said. “Fury said in the second round that he got hit with a right hand of Deontay’s that he thought was going to drop him. And that was a Deontay off balance and in a corner. If that was the punch that landed from the Deontay that is going to go [in the ring] on [Oct. 9], it would’ve been over.

“And so much has happened since then with changing of trainers. The going to the arbitration to get what was rightly Deontay’s and the arbitrator agreed with that. Fury getting sick, pulling out with Covid.”

When asked about Wilder’s claim that Fury’s gloves in the rematch had been manipulated, Finkel offered a more or less noncommittal response.

“I can only judge by what I’ve seen in photos,” Finkel said. “The commission didn’t do anything. I don’t want to debate the past. You can’t change it. We’ll be very careful looking at everything going into this fight. That’s really all that we can hope for. I know that Deontay is looking to reclaim his title, reclaim it in a devastating fashion.”