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).
