A former long-reigning world heavyweight champion has dubbed himself as a modern day Muhammad Ali just days out from his return to the sport.
Ali is widely considered to be one of, if not the greatest heavyweight to have ever laced up a pair of boxing gloves. ‘The Greatest’ became a holder of the world heavyweight championship on several occasions during his career and would lock horns with the likes of George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Larry Holmes.
One man that could have found himself in the conversation for being an all-time-great heavyweight is Deontay Wilder, who reigned as the WBC world heavyweight champion between 2015 and 2020.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ has been on a poor run of form over the last couple of years but will be looking to return to the pinnacle of boxing’s banner division when he returns this evening.
The 40-year-old from Alabama faces British veteran Derek Chisora in a 12-round non-title heavyweight clash at the O2 Arena in London tonight, the 50th bout of the hard-hitting American’s storied career.
In a recent interview with DAZN, Wilder dubbed himself as a ‘modern day Muhammad Ali’ in a bold statement thar will leave fans in shock ahead of his long-awaited return.
“Because people don’t understand what we as people go through. So when they got a person like me, a modern day Muhammad Ali that come to the forefront to protect, to provide and to educate, it becomes a problem because nobody wanna go down memory lane and feel the feeling that we have felt for many years and still feel to the motherf—–g day.”
Wilder has previously stated that he intends to advance towards becoming a world heavyweight champion once again, but first he must deal with the task at hand when he locks horns with the unpredictable Derek Chisora this Saturday.
