Plenty of people in the boxing world seem to think that Deontay Wilder should hang up his gloves.
In just a few short years, Wilder has gone from a revered knockout artist who was heralded as possibly one of the biggest punchers the sport has ever seen to now being out in the cold.
After a string of impressive knockout wins that earned him the WBC world heavyweight title and nine successful defences, he came unstuck in two of his three fights with Tyson Fury. Both losses came by way of knockout and, aside from a one-round blowout of Robert Helens, he was out of the ring for the best part of two years thereafter.
His return came in December last year when he was beaten on points across 12 rounds by Joseph Parker. After plenty of talk about getting his fire back, he then stepped into the ring with Zhilei Zhang in June only to be knocked out inside five rounds, leaving him with many questions to answer about his career going forward.
One man who went through the same is former multi-weight champion James Toney. Across 15 world title fights in four weight classes, ‘Lights Out’ was known for his famous shoulder roll defence and fast hands. He had 92 contests in all and lost 10.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, he was asked if Wilder can come back from his recent losses.
“Hey man, Deontay Wilder, it is what it is. I told everybody how he was gonna end up. He’s done. It’s a wrap.”
Wilder did admit before his last fight that should he lose, he would seriously consider retirement, but as of yet there has been no official word.
