'I feel like a different person': Deontay Wilder goes deep on mental struggles ahead of boxing comeback
Nearly two decades into a professional boxing career that's seen him crowned heavyweight champion and then cast out as a shell of his former self, Deontay Wilder finds himself back where few thought he'd ever return: Preparing for another fight — and perhaps, another run at a heavyweight title.
Wilder returns to the ring on June 27 in Wichita, Kansas, against the little-known Tyrell Herndon. "The Bronze Bomber" will end a one-year layoff for the fight, which he hopes will be the first of three bouts in 2025 as part of a rebuilding process following back-to-back defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
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At age 39, many believe Wilder has given all he can to the heavyweight division and the sport of boxing, Wilder, however, firmly believes that a new and improved version of himself awaits his rivals — a version that is free of pressure and expectations, and able to fight for himself and his own needs.
"I feel like a different person," Wilder said on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show."
"This Deontay Wilder, he's more at peace, mentally, physically, and emotionally. A lot of things that I was doing, I did for others. I was selfless. I took care of a lot of people. You can only do so much for so many people, and at certain times, you can do it for a certain length of time where it's really not [appreciated]. But you don't really understand anything until time passes, until situations happen, and you start lingering around and you start noticing certain things, and you start understanding things. And then you realize, it's time to let certain things go.
"At this moment in time, I'm selfish. ... It's all about me having fun and going there and just having a great time. And that's the difference — I feel more free. When you do it for yourself, you ain't worried about letting anyone down, you ain't worried about making mistakes, you ain't worried about anything.
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"If anyone has dealt with betrayal, you understand the feeling of it," Wilder continued. "You understand the pain that comes behind it, especially when you have done stuff for so many people. You took people to places where they never would have been without you in their lives, or present at any given time. And then when they betray you, it's like a dagger in your heart. I tell people it's 10 times worse than a heartbreak. But for me, it's just been a domino effect. Year after year after year."
The former champion has parted ways with numerous people in his inner circle in recent years. He split from now-former trainer Mark Breland after Breland threw in the towel in the seventh round in the second of his three fights with Tyson Fury in 2020. In Wilder's most recent bout, longtime trainer Jay Deas was also not visible in the heavyweight's corner either, with Malik Scott now serving as head coach. Wilder additionally spent his peak years with Al Haymon's Premier -Boxing Champions, but his past two bouts came on Riyadh Season cards, and his next fight is being promoted by Global Combat Collective.
"It's like an orange. People will squeeze you until they feel like all the juice is out of you," Wilder said. "And then, when all the juice is out of you, they'll throw away the hull. But the thing is, for one man's trash is another man's treasure. And if you understand anything about oranges and hulls and different things that you can use to cook, you know that the hull, you don't throw it away, because it can become edible. You can still use it.
"You can't see that you got f***** heavy baggage around you. You can't understand that right now [you're trying to go up] and this motherf**** ain't going nowhere. Until you realize that, the people that are around, the baggage that you're holding, the burden that needs to be cut, [they're] still lingering around. Once you start cutting s***, you start floating up, you start elevating, you start rising."
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"[The people around you] have benefited [from] you, the fruits of your labor," he continued. "You risk your life for others' entertainment. Everybody wants what you have, but don't want to put in the same amount of work that you have put in. They just want to benefit from you. There's no more."
It's clear Wilder believes he was used by those he once trusted, that people who claimed to care about him were only on the journey for what he could give them while he was at the top of the sport. Once they felt he had nothing left to offer — no more victories, fame, or money — they discarded him.
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However, Wilder is confident that what he's left with still has enough juice to fuel another run in the sport. And he plans to undergo that run with a smaller team, removing the deadweight in the process.
Despite Wilder's struggles inside and outside of the ring, he insists that reports of him hanging up the gloves were wide of the mark.
"I've never thought about giving up, I never thought about quitting," Wilder said. "I never thought about retiring. These are all rumors and stuff, and [this is what I'm] saying — people don't know [anything]. Most people want to be first [rather] than be correct. We are living in a world today where you want to put everything out on social media to get clicks and likes to make some money."
While many continue to ask what's left for the American to accomplish in the sport, Wilder desires to be remembered as a fighter who strived to be the best. He said, after being pulled out by former trainer Breland in the second Fury fight, that he was willing to go out on his shield and die in the ring, if it came to it.
"I want [people] to say that I [never gave] up at all," Wilder said. "I got up on these bended knees and I got up ... and got myself back out there, each and every time, because I wasn't satisfied with the last performance or the last thing I've done. In my life, I always feel like there's more to do in this world. No matter what I've obtained or what I may have in life, I still feel like there's more to do."
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