HEAVYWEIGHT castaway Deontay Wilder has been encouraged to walk away from the sport with his health intact after a fourth defeat in five and a second straight humiliation on the big stage. Yet, the Tuscaloosa-born 39-year-old appears determined to prove that he still possesses the knockout power that saw him rise to superstardom, poised to announce his next outing in the coming days.
Whilst heavyweights such as Daniel Dubois, Joseph Parker and Agit Kabayel have flourished under the bright lights of ‘Riyadh Season’, few have crumbled in that same sweat-inducing melting pot of Saudi as much as ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
After just one round in 26 months and one win since 2019, Wilder went toe-to-toe with Parker on the fabled ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in late 2023, hopeful of teeing up his ever-elusive showdown with Anthony Joshua, who appeared in the main event.
Although, as is so often the case in this bloodied and brutal industry, things did not go to plan.
Instead, the New Zealander threw a spanner in the works and did so in style, comfortably outboxing Wilder for all 12 rounds on his way to a wide unanimous-decision victory, before Joshua fulfilled his side of the bargain with a dominant stoppage of Otto Wallin in the fight that followed.
With his fabled right-hand, that has got him out of trouble on numerous occasions, seeming non-existent against Parker, the announcement of a June outing against a less mobile opponent in Zhilei Zhang gave fans hope that Wilder could land a signature shot to get back to winning ways, despite entering the contest as an underdog.
However, once again, Wilder looked a shadow of himself and was dispatched of with ease – a fifth-round knockout defeat his fate this time around.
Nevertheless, despite widespread concern from both his critics and usually faithful supporters, esteemed boxing journalist Manouk Akopyan has reported that Wilder is not ready to retire yet and that he and his manager will ‘meet with the media in Los Angeles on Saturday to announce the opponent’ for a comeback fight in April.
Akopyan added that Wilder’s surprise return will take place on BLK Prime, assumably topping the bill for what will likely be a pay-per-view event.
