Deontay Wilder walked into a small meeting room at London's Marriott Hotel in April, with manager Shelly Finkel right behind him to promote his upcoming fight against Zhilei Zhang. He radiated confidence, but he also seemed to understand the pressure that comes with it. Depending on the outcome, the fight with Zhang could be his “last dance,” Wilder said.
His heavyweight clash against Zhang on Saturday is arguably the most intriguing fight on a card billed as “5 on 5: Matchroom vs. Queensberry” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After three losses in his last four fights, two of them by KO against Tyson Fury, the fight offers Wilder, 38, the chance to redeem himself, after being dominated in a one-sided unanimous decision loss to Joseph Parker. in December.
But does the former WBC champion have what it takes to get back to the top? Does he still retain the fighting spirit that helped him get 13 world title fights?
“Or you have [fighting spirit] or not, and I'm the kind of person who does,” Wilder said. “I don't have to be mad at you, I don't have to dig up anything you said. “He's never going anywhere, he's just tamed.”
That indomitable side of him, the aggressive knockout artist who scored 42 KOs in his 43 professional victories, is not lost on Wilder.
“Everyone wants to see that monster come out. But when he was here, [people said] 'My God, he's too messy for boxing, he talks too violently, he wants a body on his record'… everyone criticized me, everyone dragged my name through the dirt. “Everyone thought I was bad for business.”
But business (for the heavyweight division) is now booming.
Wilder wants a piece of the action in Saudi Arabia, where the division's biggest fights now take place.
If Wilder wins, a fight with compatriot Jared Anderson is on the cards for Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, the first boxing card organized by Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority in the United States. A loss on Saturday would spell disaster for Wilder at a time when the division is going from strength to strength.
“I fell out of love [with boxing] at one point and I had to get it back,” Wilder said.
The powers that be in the division still seem to believe in Wilder. Not only are rival promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren heading in the same direction and working together for Saturday's show, but who would have thought that Hearn, who has never been face to face with Wilder or Finkel, would call Wilder and sign. Does he have a one-fight contract to represent you and offer you the opportunity to return to the big time?
“I'm a very mature and intelligent man, so when it comes to certain things… this is a business,” Wilder said. “I can smile with my enemies, I can laugh with my enemies, I can eat, I can hunt my enemies. I have mouths to feed.
“We're all businessmen… Every time we get to the point where 'okay, I don't like you, you don't like me, but business is good,' you know what I mean?”
A mega fight between Wilder and former champion Anthony Joshua has been rumored for years, and it could be in the future as well.
One thing we do know: the big fights are made at heavyweight. It's up to Wilder to prove on Saturday that he still belongs with them.
