Deontay Wilder

Deontay Leshun Wilder ( WYLE-dər; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion since 2007, which was the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion.

Wilder had a late start to boxing, taking up the sport at 20 years of age. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 2008 Olympics. This led to his nickname of "the Bronze Bomber", which Wilder coined after Joe Louis, who was known by the nickname of "the Brown Bomber".

Wilder is known for his exceptional punching power, and has been described as one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. His knockout-to-win percentage stands at 97.72%, the highest in heavyweight history, with 20 of his knockouts (48%) in the first round. He is a three-time winner of the Premier Boxing Champions Knockout of the Year award (2016, 2017, 2019) and a winner of the Ring magazine Knockout of the Year award (2019).

Amateur career

Wilder started boxing in October 2005, when he entered Skyy Boxing Gym in Northport, Alabama, and began training under Jay Deas. Wilder was 20 at that time.

By 2007, he upset the favorites to win both the National Golden Gloves and the U.S. championships at 201 lb (91 kg).

At the Golden Gloves, he defeated highly touted cadet world champion Isiah Thomas, a southpaw from Detroit, and David Thompson, of Brooklyn, in the finals. At the U.S. championship he defeated Quantis Graves and won the final 31–15 over southpaw James Zimmerman of San Jose, California.

At the Olympic trials, he beat Graves twice more and won the Olympic trials in only 21 bouts. Early in 2008 he scored a career-best win by edging out world championship silver medalist and future Olympic champion Rakhim Chakhiyev in Russia. He qualified for the Olympics by beating Deivis Julio 6:5 Jorge Quinones from Ecuador on double countback and Brazilian Rafael Lima 6:5 at the qualifier.

In a Russia-USA dual match on February 29, 2008, in Novosibirsk, Wilder was knocked out by Evgenyi Romanov.

Wilder then competed at heavyweight in the 2008 Olympics, defeating Abdelaziz Touilbini of Algeria and Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco before losing to Clemente Russo of Italy in the semi-final to earn a bronze medal.

Wilder had an approximate amateur record of 30–5.

Olympic results

Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics:

• Defeated Abdelaziz Toulbini (Algeria) 10:4
• Defeated Mohamed Arjaoui (Morocco) 10+:10 (tiebreaker criteria)
• Lost to Clemente Russo (Italy) 1:7

World Championship results

2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships:

• Lost to Krzysztof Zimnoch (Poland) 20–23 (10/24/2007)

Professional career

Early career

Wilder made his professional debut at the age of 23 on November 15, 2008, at the Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. He faced Ethan Cox (2–2–1), winning by second-round technical knockout (TKO) after knocking Cox down three times. Wilder fought seven times in 2009, winning all the fights in round one. By October 2012, Wilder racked up a 25-fight win streak, winning all by knockout and all within four rounds. Some notable stoppages included former WBA heavyweight title challenger Owen Beck (27–10, 20 KOs), former WBO light heavyweight title challenger DeAndrey Abron (15–6, 10 KOs) and former WBO heavyweight challenger Damon Reed (46–15, 32 KOs).

Wilder won his first title in professional boxing when he knocked out 37-year-old Kelvin Price (13–0, 6 KOs) at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, on December 15, 2012. The fight was originally slated to take place in August 2012. Wilder fought patiently through the first two rounds and mostly measured Price. The fight ended when a right hand from Wilder caught Price on the jaw and sent him back into the ropes and down. He attempted to get to his feet, but struggled which led referee Ray Corona to wave an end to the bout. Wilder claimed the vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title, which he went on to successfully defend twice.

Rise up the ranks

On April 3, 2013, Golden Boy Promotions announced that Wilder would fight former European heavyweight champion and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison (31–6, 23 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, his UK debut, on April 27. Harrison was coming into this fight looking to rebuild after winning the prizefighter heavyweight tournament two months earlier. The card, which was being shown live on Showtime in USA, was headlined by Amir Khan's return in the UK against Julio Díaz. Harrison stated that he would retire if he lost. Wilder knocked out Harrison in round one. Wilder found an opening 49 seconds into the opening round and caught Harrison with a big right hand that rocked him back into the ropes. A follow-up barrage from Wilder sent Harrison into the corner, crumpling onto the floor. Harrison used the ropes to get to his feet at the count of eight, but referee Terry O'Connor called off the bout. The official time of stoppage was 1:22 of the first round. Four days after the fight, Harrison announced his retirement at the age of 41.

On May 9, Frank Warren announced a card that would take place at the Wembley Arena in London on June 15, 2013, which would feature Wilder and British boxer Derek Chisora as the main event. Prior to the announcement, Golden Boy and Wilder's camp stated there was no deal in place. The fight fell through after Wilder was arrested in May following a domestic assault in Las Vegas, Nevada. Days later, Wilder signed Al Haymon as his new advisor.

In June, Golden Boy announced Wilder would main event a triple header of a Showtime card at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, against former WBO heavyweight champion Siarhei Liakhovich (25–5, 16 KOs) on August 9, 2013, in a ten-round bout. Liakhovich would fight for the first time in nearly a year and half. Wilder knocked Liakhovich out in the first round. Wilder caught Liakhovich with a big right hand; while Liakhovich was backed against the ropes, he went down heavily and began twitching. The referee waved an end to the bout without beginning a count. Liakhovich was kept down for some time in the ring, before being helped to a stool. Days after the fight, Liakhovich filed a protest to change the outcome as 'no contest' citing that Wilder hit him with illegal punches. Liakhovich claimed he was punched behind the ear and neck area.

Two months later in October, Wilder knocked out Nicolai Firtha (21–10–1, 8 KOs) in four rounds to maintain his knockout streak. Prior to the stoppage, Firtha was dropped twice in the opening round. In February 2014 it was announced that Wilder would fight 33-year-old Malik Scott (36–1–1, 13 KOs) in an eliminator for the WBC heavyweight title. The fight took place on the undercard of Garcia-Herrera at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Puerto Rico on March 15. When the fight was first announced, Wilder was #3 in the WBC ratings while Scott was #26. Wilder knocked out Scott at 1:36 of the first round. Wilder started off with slow jabs and the knockout blow appeared to be a straight right hand, which many believe did not connect clearly. There was an instant reaction from the crowd and on social media regarding how the fight ended. Scott was said to be unhappy about reports that he took a dive and congratulated Wilder. This set Wilder up as mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight title held by new champion Bermane Stiverne, who had defeated Chris Arreola for the title vacated by the retiring Vitali Klitschko.

In August 2014, Wilder fought journeyman and former Prizefighter finalist Jason Gavern (25–16–4, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout. The fight took place at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, on the undercard of the IBF welterweight fight between Shawn Porter and Kell Brook fight. Gavern was knocked down in rounds three and four. His corner threw in the towel after round four giving Wilder another stoppage victory.