Former long-reigning heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has received criticism from a retired boxing legend.
The 39-year-old from Alabama has not fought since suffering back-to-back defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, although it has been reported that the heavy-handed American could be set to return to the ring in the near future.
Wilder enjoyed a successful stint as the WBC heavyweight champion between 2015 and 2020 before he was beaten by Tyson Fury in February 2020. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ suffered the same fate in their trilogy fight 18-months later when he was stopped in the penultimate round.
One fighter who has had their say on the career and credentials of Wilder is James Toney, who captured world titles in three weight divisions during his accomplished career.
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Toney claimed that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has failed in his journey as a professional fighter, saying he only knocked out ‘bums’.
“Deontay Wilder and that bomb bulls**t. Everybody was believing in that. I told everyone look who he’s fighting. He fighting bums. If I was fighting them I would have all fights by knockout. The guys he fought I would’ve knocked out in two, three rounds too. They built him up right and then when it was time to come through, he failed. He wasn’t ready. It’s sad seeing what happen to him but it is what it is. Deontay was a one-trick pony.”
There have been calls from many of boxing’s prominent figures for Wilder to hang the gloves up and draw the curtain on his tenure, but the 39-year-old appears to have other plans with his return to the ring expected to take place in the upcoming months.
