Deontay Wilder, who faces Tyson Fury on Saturday, entered the world of professional boxing for a particular reason.
Becoming the best on the planet, following in the footsteps of Mohamed Ali or Mike Tyson… the reasons for becoming a professional boxer are often varied when you ask the main stakeholders. But for the “Bronze Bomber”, the reason is very singular.
The American boxer, who hopes to regain the WBC heavyweight belt against Tyson Fury, had confided a few years ago that it followed the illness of his daughter Naieya.
“In 2004, at only 19 years old, I was about to become a father,” Deontay Wilder recalled to L’Equipe. Father of a baby girl born with spina bifida (a birth defect of the spine and spinal cord). Before that, I had everything a young man of this age could dream of. I had no money problem, no responsibility, I was just thinking about myself. But when Naieya arrived, everything changed. I had no idea what this disease was at all, and I didn’t know what it took to treat a child with it. To be honest with you, I was very scared. ”
Wilder, who won bronze at the Beijing Olympics before turning pro, said he turned to boxing to get rich. “At that point, I immediately looked for a way to make money and quickly. I turned to boxing, even though I knew absolutely nothing about it. I just told myself that all the boxers I saw on TV were all very rich. I wanted to do the same, I thought it would go very quickly, but I was all wrong (laughs). I just knew how to fight and I had a specific goal, to improve my daughter’s life. ”
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