Deontay Wilder

Deontay Leshun Wilder (genus. US Amateur Champion (2007). Bronze medalist at the Beijing Olympic Games (2008).

Wilder is the January 2019 WBC Heavyweight Champion. Has the longest streak of knockout wins since the start of his heavyweight career.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Deontay Wilder, which will be discussed in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Deontay Wilder.

Deontay Wilder biography

Deontay Wilder was born on October 22, 1985 in the American city of Tuscaloosa (Alabama).

As a child, Wilder dreamed of becoming a basketball or rugby player, just like all his peers. It is worth noting that for both sports, he had excellent anthropometric data - high growth and athletic build.

However, Deontay's dreams were not destined to come true after his girlfriend gave birth to a sick daughter. The girl was born with a serious spinal disease.

The child required expensive treatment, as a result of which the father had to look for a high-paying job. As a result, Wilder decided to connect his life with boxing.

The guy started professional training at the age of 20. At that time in his biography, Jay Deas was his coach.

Deontay Wilder has set himself the goal of achieving success in boxing at any cost. For this reason, he spent whole days in the gym, practicing strikes and learning combat techniques.

Boxing

A couple of years after starting training, Wilder became the champion in the amateur Golden Gloves competition.

In 2007, Deontay reached the final of the American Amateur Championship, where he defeated James Zimmerman and became the champion.

The following year, the American participated in the Olympic Games held in China. He showed good boxing, winning the bronze medal in the first heavyweight division.

After that, Wilder was determined to move to professional boxing.

With a height of 201 cm and a weight of 103 kg, Deontay began performing in the heavyweight division. His first fight took place in the fall of 2008 against Ethan Cox.

Throughout the fight, Wilder had an advantage over his opponent. Before knocking out Cox, he knocked him down 3 times.

In the next 8 meetings, Deontay also had a significant advantage over opponents. An interesting fact is that they all ended in knockouts in the first round.

Wilder's unbeatable extravaganza allowed him to compete for the title of world heavyweight champion. In 2015, he met in the ring with the reigning WBC World Champion - Canadian Bermain Steven.

Although the fight, which took place all 12 rounds, was not easy for both fighters, Deontay looked much better than his opponent. As a result, he was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

The athlete dedicated this victory to his daughter and idol Muhammad Ali. It is worth noting that after the end of the fight, Stevern was sent to the clinic with dehydration.

During the biography of 2015-2016. Deontay Wilder successfully defended his title.

He turned out to be stronger than boxers such as Eric Molina, Joan Duapa, Arthur Stiletto and Chris Areola. It is curious that in a fight with Areola, Wilder injured his working right arm, presumably a fracture and a rupture of the ligaments, as a result of which he could not perform in the ring for some time.

In the fall of 2017, a rematch took place between Wilder and Steven. The latter showed a very weak boxing, having been knocked down three times and taking a lot of punches from Deontay. As a result, the American again won a landslide victory.

A few months later, Wilder entered the ring against Cuban Luis Ortiz, where he again proved to be stronger than his opponent.

At the end of 2018, Tyson Fury became Deontay's next opponent. For 12 rounds, Tyson tried to impose his boxing on his opponent, but Wilder did not deviate from his tactics.

The champion twice knocked Fury down, but overall the fight was on an even playing field. As a result, the panel of judges awarded this fight a draw.

Personal life

Deontay's first child was born to a girl named Helen Duncan. Newborn girl Nei was diagnosed with spina bifida.

In 2009, Wilder entered into an official marriage with Jessica Scales-Wilder. The couple later had two daughters and one son.

After 6 years, the couple decided to leave. The next beloved boxer was a young participant in the American TV show "WAGS Atlanta" - Telli Swift.

In 2013, it became known that Wilder used physical force against a woman in a Las Vegas hotel.

Nevertheless, the lawyers managed to explain to the judges that the incident happened due to the fact that the man mistakenly suspected the victim of theft. The incident was settled, but the charges were not confirmed.

In the summer of 2017, drugs were found in Deontay's car. Lawyers argued that the marijuana found in the car belonged to an acquaintance of the boxer who rode the car during the absence of the athlete.

Wilder himself did not know anything about the drugs in the salon. However, the judges still found the champion guilty.

Deontay Wilder today

As of January 2020, Deontay Wilder remains the reigning WBC World Heavyweight Champion.

The American broke Vitali Klitschko's record for the longest knockout streak. In addition, he is considered the record holder for title retention, having remained undefeated since 2015.

A rematch is planned for February 2020 between Wilder and Fury.

Deontay has an Instagram account, where he uploads photos and videos. Today, over 2.5 million people have subscribed to his page.