Why Deontay Wilder Performs Major U-Turn On Retiring From Boxing
Deontay Wilder hasn’t fought since back in June.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ was attempting to revive his career when he went up against big-punching Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia.
Prior to that fight, Wilder had seen his reign as WBC heavyweight champion brought to an end when he lost to Tyson Fury, with the American failing to win any of the three meetings they had.
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He bounced back after that trilogy with a first round knockout win against Robert Helenius, but was then comfortably beaten on points by Joseph Parker in December 2023.
That set up the fight against Zhang, but it was another disappointing affair for Wilder, once again failing to display his trademark power that had seen 42 of his 43 victories end in knockout.
It ended in a fifth round knockout victory for Zhang, meaning that Wilder has now gone 1-4 in his last five professional contests.
Speaking ahead of that fight with Zhang, Wilder had admitted that a defeat could have spelled an end for his boxing career.
“I would say that. It’s definitely a must-win fight, especially for me, and it sets up everything for the future.
“If I don’t get the win, we don’t know where we’ll go from here. Retirement could be a very big and serious conversation. This is a very important fight for me and in terms of my future.”
Despite the loss, Wilder has made a U-turn on those comments, after he confirmed to TMZ that he will definitely make a return to the ring.
“For me, the best is yet to come. Yeah, we’re still going. We’re still here, we’ll just get things together.”
While it’s currently unknown when Wilder could return, trainer Malik Scott has expressed interest in fights with Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou and Wladimir Klitschko.
