Deontay Wilder went 43 fights unbeaten in his professional campaign, striking fear into opponents due to the wicked power in his right hand.
The American heavyweight held the WBC World Title for the best part of five years, making defences against Chris Arreola, Luis Ortiz and Dominic Breazeale before eventually losing it to Tyson Fury in their second meeting and failing to regain it in a third.
During his reign, Wilder was called out many times by top contender Dillian Whyte. Speaking to TalkSPORT, ‘The Bodysnatcher’ said he still holds a grudge for not getting his shot back then.
“We had to take people to court and fight and I was risking the position for so long. Honestly, I wanted to fight Wilder. I’d have beat Wilder. I’d have knocked him out. I’d have smashed Wilder to bits and been WBC World Champion. But obviously Wilder’s a coward and he messed me about for so long.”
Whyte instead faced Fury for the belt after the Wilder trilogy, losing by sixth round stoppage.
He has since picked up wins over Jermaine Franklin and Christian Hammer over the course of two years, his career being held back by a failed doping test that saw a rematch with Anthony Joshua pulled off the table. The result was later confirmed to be a contaminated supplement and he is back in the market for big fights.
With ‘The Bronze Bomber’ coming off back-to-back losses against Joseph Parker, who Whyte beat back in 2018, and Zhilei Zhang, his hopes of becoming a two-time world champion look unlikely at this stage. His trainer Malik Scott has confirmed he will fight on though, and a match-up against Whyte could be a good first step.
