Deontay Wilder is a man of towering physical presence and contradictions. He is a man of God who expressed no regrets for welcoming the chance to “get a body” on his CV by killing Dominic Breazeale in the ring, yet apologised and wished the poor man and his family all the best after icing him inside a round in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
To some this is just the gutter talk of the business. But it is tasteless and dangerous. And it most certainly has nothing to do with God.
Wilder is a fighter who has a problem with the truth – which, for legal and self-preservation reasons, is different from calling the big man from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a liar. Nevertheless, he struggles to declare his intentions with any clarity when asked if and when he will ever fight Anthony Joshua – which might be the least important of his confusions, but one that concerns the owner of the other three versions of the world heavyweight title, as well as the whole industry.
Wilder’s post-fight utterances suggest the unification fight everyone wants remains highly probable but maybe not in the next year or so. He is more certain about a rematch with Tyson Fury, but even that is clouded in the sport’s tiresome negotiating language.
In a packed arena, Wilder’s fists spoke nothing but the brutal truth when, after only two minutes and three seconds, he planted a mid-range right hand on Breazeale’s chin to register his ninth defence of the WBC belt, his 40th stoppage in 42 contests, the 20th in the first round. He is one awesome dude. He should be the biggest name in sport, a stretched-out version of the young Mike Tyson. Somehow, he isn’t.
Wilder, Joshua and Fury should be cashing in on a series of mega-fights the way Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton did. Each of them brings a different sort of excitement. Instead they’re standing off like Tommy Robinson covered in a milkshake.
Breazeale’s chin went from bone to porcelain in a split second and his right ear curiously fluttered like a butterfly as he floated serenely to the floor, resting flat on his back, eyes briefly shut. He’d survived into the seventh round against Joshua three years ago, and on Saturday night tried to right himself near the end of a redundant count by Harvey Dock, but not with the strength and purpose Fury managed in the closing stages of the 12th round when he somehow got up and fought Wilder to a draw in Los Angeles last December.
“That fight will happen, the rematch,” Wilder told Showtime’s Jim Gray in the ring. “Like all these other big fights will happen. The good thing is all these fights are in discussion. No doors are closed. All the teams, all the parties involved, are talking. So many people involved, so many opinions. The big fights will happen, I promise you that.”
Pausing to check his reality monitor, he added, “I just want you guys to have patience. We want to make sure we get the best and the most money that’s possible. We’re risking our lives. The head is not meant to be hit in the first place.”
Within minutes, he was giving an adjusted version into a different microphone.
On fighting Joshua, he told Sky’s Adam Smith: “I got a lot of other obligations to fulfil. There’s a lot of things been going on with me, you know, not just in the ring, but out of the ring as well. But if that date is open for me, you know, you may see Deontay Wilder there. I’m one of those guys, I don’t hold grudges against someone – at least not long, you know? You may find me there. Who knows? I can’t say right now, I can’t promise you that but, when that time comes, we’ll see what happens.”
Without blinking, he added: “I think it will happen. It’s not a … it’s gonna happen. I’m just gonna trust in the sense it will happen. I believe in all my heart it will happen. I don’t want this to be like a Lennox [Lewis] and [Riddick] Bowe situation. The heavyweight division is on fire right now. I think it’s our obligation and our duty to give the fans what they want. Next time it comes around, I think something’s gonna get done.”
Lewis and Bowe, the best in the division for a while in the 1990s, never fought for the title. Bowe famously threw his WBC belt in a bin, indicating his scorn of a showdown with the man who beat him in the Seoul Olympics. But Wilder would not do that, right?
“Not at all. I promise you that.”
Whatever the strength of his promises, there is no doubting the nuclear potency of his right hand. The bomb that dropped Breazeale would have knocked out any heavyweight in the history of the sport – including Joshua. Whether he can connect before Joshua gets to him is the conundrum. At 33, Wilder gets wilder with his boxing. He is eminently beatable.
“I’ve had it since I was a kid,” Wilder said of his power. “My grandmother always said I was anointed by God. I don’t have to lift weights, I don’t have to train for it. It’s all right here [pointing to his head]. Everyone has greatness in them.”
Meanwhile, Joshua fights Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden on Saturday week, and Fury prepares for a 15 June fight in Las Vegas against one Tom Schwarz. The very same.