Deontay Leshun Wilder (born October 22, 1985) is an American
professional boxer. He has held the WBC heavyweight title since 2015,
and in doing so became the first American world heavyweight champion
in nine years, which was the longest period of time in boxing history
without an American heavyweight champion. 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 also from Alabama and was known by the nickname
of "The Brown Bomber".
Wilder is known for having finished all
but one of his fights inside the distance; his knockout-to-win ratio
is currently 97.3%, with 18 knockouts in the first round. As of April
2017 he is ranked as the world's third best heavyweight by The Ring
magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fourth by
BoxRec.
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 19 at that time.
By 2007 he upset
the favorites to win both the National Golden Gloves and the US 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, N.Y. 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, Calif.
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 Gold medalist
and future Olympic champion Rakhim Chakhiyev in Russia. He qualified
for the Olympics by beating Deivis Julo 6:5 Jorge Quinones from Ecuador
on double countback and Brazilian Rafael Lima 6:5 at the qualifier.
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.
Professional
career
Early career
Wilder made his debut at the age of 23 on November
15, 2008 at the Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville,
Tennessee. He knocked out Ethan Cox in the second round. Cox was knocked
down three times in the second round before the fight was eventually
stopped. Wilder fought seven times in 2009, winning all the fights
in round 1. By October 2012, Wilder racked up an impressive 25 fight
win streak, winning all by knockout and all within four rounds. Some
notable stoppages included former WBA heavyweight title challenger
Owen Beck (27-20, 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 then unbeaten 37 year old
Kelvin Price (13-0, 6 KOs) at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California
on December 15, 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.
Wilder vs Harrison
On April 27,
2013 Wilder knocked out former European heavyweight champion and Olympic
gold medalist Audley Harrison (31-6, 23 KOs) in Sheffield, on his
UK debut. Harrison was coming into this fight looking to rebuild after
winning the prizefighter heavyweight tournament two months prior.
Wilder found an opening 49 seconds in the opening round and caught
Harrison with abig 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
counst of eight, but referee Terry O'Connor waved and end to 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
years.
Wilder vs Liakhovich
Wilder knocked out former WBO heavyweight
champion Sirahei Liakhovich (25-5, 16 KOs) in the first round on August
9, 2013, the fight was the main event of a Showtime card. The fight
took place at Fantasy springs Casino in Indio, California. Liakhovich
was fighting for the first time in nearly a year and a half. 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.
Wilder and Golden Boy Promotions had been in talkes with Dereck Chisora
about a potential fight in England, but that fell through after Wilder
was arrested in May following a domestic assault in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilder
vs Scott
In February 2014 it was announced that Wilder would fight
33 year old American boxer 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. By the time the fight took place,
Wilder was still ranked #3 and Scott was ranked #23. 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 staight right hand, which
many believe didn't 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.
