Deontay Wilder: “My Love for Boxing Diminished”

Ben Mendelowitz Sports Betting Expert

5 minute read

Key Takeaways

• Deontay Wilder names Joe Louis as the one heavyweight he would most want to face in his prime, citing their shared Alabama roots and the “Brown Bomber vs. Bronze Bomber” legacy connection:
  
  “Let's put the brown bomber with the bronze bomber. You know what I'm saying?”
  
• Despite carrying U.S. heavyweight boxing for years, Wilder admits he barely follows the modern scene, saying his interest faded after seeing how the sport operates behind closed doors:
  
  “When you know what is behind that door… the interest of what you're seeing is no more, it dies.”
  
• Wilder suggests boxing’s inner workings drain the purity of the sport, explaining why fans and fighters often see very different realities:
  
  “The fans on the outside may be looking at a different story. Because they don't know what I know.”
  
  “My truth is others' excuses.”
  
• Wilder names Johann Duhaupas as the hardest puncher he ever faced, recalling how even the Frenchman’s jab left a lasting impression:
  
  “He hit me so hard, I still think about him!”

The world of heavyweight boxing is built on myth, power, and legacy — and few fighters embody that better than Deontay Wilder.

The former WBC champion sat down with VegasInsider to reflect on boxing history, his complicated relationship with the sport today, and the opponents who left a lasting mark on his career.

(This Q&A has been edited solely for clarity. No quotes have been shortened or removed.)

Wilder on his dream opponent

Which fighter in history would you say you would've wanted to face in their prime if you were in your prime?

Wilder: “I always say this one particular guy. Because of how I got into boxing and my nickname is named after him. Something to carry along within that name. And what I'm talking about is Joe Lewis.

You know, Joe Louis was from Alabama. He was the Brown bomber. I came along, I'm from Alabama, I won a bronze medal in the Olympics, and I became the bronze bomber.

Let's put the brown bomber with the bronze bomber. You know what I'm saying?

Just got that ring to it. And I always liked that. There’s so many fighters that I can name though, because there're so many great fighters that have come before us and that are being created.

I've always said him and I had to keep it for those reasons.

That's another guy I would've loved to fight, is Vander Holyfield, one of the best in the world. I didn't get his credit.

He was a hell of a fighter. I could say him as well being from Alabama too. But, you know, these moments are not for certain names to be said, you know what I mean?

It's just, I'm an energy person. Like I said, I go out how I feel about things and what things have been asked to me or, or said to me a certain way as I know what my feelings are. And still to this day, it's Joe Lewis.

Maybe in 20 years, it may change. I may say someone else, but Joe Lewis is still the guy.”

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Wilder on modern boxing and stepping away

When it comes to the U.S. heavyweight boxing scene… who is the most dangerous American heavyweight right now?

Wilder: “I'm still the same way I've always been, like when I'm in boxing, I'm in the training, but when I'm out, I'm MIA.

I don't really look at anything. I don't really attend too many fights. I got so much of the stuff going on. I'm a man of many hats, you know what I'm saying? I wear many hats around and I used to be really heavily involved in sports.

But not so much now, you know what I mean?

Sometimes you may see certain things behind closed doors or how things operate and how things are done, and it makes you take a seat back or a step back and like, oh, it is not so interesting any more. Because I know what goes on. I know the truth.

The truth behind the door, number one, number two, and number three.

It takes away from it. When you don't know anything, you can't be surprised with nothing. It's black and white. It's just what you see. Yeah.

But when you know what is behind that door, what’s making this puppet do this and do that or how a person may get in a certain position because of this or whatever. The interest of what you're seeing is no more, it dies.

And you have to find it. At one point in time, the love I had for boxing diminished a little bit because of certain things I know to be true.

Although the fans on the outside may be looking at a different story. Because they don't know what I know.

They haven't seen what I've seen. They haven't taken in the knowledge that I have taken in. So they won't know.

That's why I say certain things. And people react to me or whatever. Oh, he's just making an excuse or whatever.

I always say, my truth is others excuses.

So if you want to take the truth that I say and make it into whatever you wanna say, then that's you.

So be it. I can live with that because I've told you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

And they say the truth sets you free.”

The hardest punch Wilder ever took

Who is the hardest puncher you’ve ever faced?

Wilder: “Like I said, I'm an energy person now. It may change throughout the years, but right now, when I think about the hardest.

I can remember that the feeling in the ring was Johann Duhaupas, the Frenchman.

Like every time he hit me with his jab and shit, I kept in my head. I was like, God damn. He hit hard.

Damn. He got grits in his gloves.

I kept saying, I can't keep taking these jabs, you know?

He was the only fighter that made me just really just think like that.

Like if I got hit, like, dang, that hurt.

That's only what I could remember. So I always give him that gratitude, you know, and that acknowledgement.

So, salute. Salute, bro. I still think about you.

He hit me so hard, I still think about him!”

Ben Mendelowitz

Ben Mendelowitz is a Digital PR expert who has a keen interest in a variety of sports. His research has been featured in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Patch and Fortune, amongst other media outlets. Ben is based in London, and is a big fan of Chelsea. More from Ben Mendelowitz