Deontay Wilder Has the Money, Power, Now He Wants Your Respect

Inside Deontay Wilder's mindset before his anticipated heavyweight rematch with Tyson Fury.

NORTHPORT, Ala. – Minutes after completing an hour-long workout, Deontay Wilder settles into a comfortable position on a ring apron and waves a reporter over. As star athletes go, Wilder is accessible as it gets. The WBC heavyweight champion regularly invites writers into his Alabama gym. He makes the New York and LA media rounds. He calls reporters back from vacation. “I’m a people person,” Wilder said. In his early 20’s, Wilder worked at a nearby IHOP. Connecting with customers usually correlated to bigger tips, so Wilder made a point to engage with them. In the 6’7” Wilder, patrons saw an athlete and eagerly engaged Wilder on anything from Alabama football to the latest NBA storyline.

“Hospitality,” Wilder said, smiling widely. “And when they would come back, they wouldn’t sit in anyone’s section but mine.”

As Wilder speaks, his training staff rubs an ice bag on his neck and massage his firm forearms. As heavyweights go, Wilder is as powerful as they get. Wilder (42-0-1) has knocked out 95% of his opponents. Only Bermane Stiverne and Tyson Fury have gone the distance with him. Stiverne was stopped in the first round of the rematch; Fury will try to avoid the same fate in his second try on Saturday night.

Power was what Jay Deas saw when Wilder walked into his gym, in 2005. In the mid-90’s, Deas quit his job as a TV reporter in to become a boxing promoter, and in '97 he opened Skyy Boxing with his brother, Tommy. The arrangement was simple: Tommy would train the fighters; Jay would promote the shows. In 2005, Tommy left boxing. Jay decided to try his hand at training. His first real client: Deontay Wilder. In the streets, Wilder fought southpaw. Deas made him orthodox. He worked Wilder so hard, most days he wanted to quit. Deas showed Wilder tapes of Tommy Hearns, telling Wilder he wanted him to be the heavyweight version of him.

In a way, Wilder has. He doesn’t throw combinations like Hearns. But when Wilder hits you cleanly, you don’t get up. Ask Dominic Breazeale, who was flattened in the first round by Wilder last May. Or Luis Ortiz. In November, Ortiz held a commanding lead on the scorecards through six rounds until a Wilder right hand sent them to the recycle bin. He has been called the biggest heavyweight hitter since Mike Tyson. Of Tyson, Wilder said the former heavyweight champ would be easy work.

Fighters feared Tyson. Veteran trainer Buddy McGirt recalled the night he worked the corner for Clifford Etienne, the then once-beaten heavyweight contender who challenged Tyson in 2003. Etienne was confident going into the fight, McGirt said. Then came Tyson’s ring walk. The Tupac song blaring. Tyson’s menacing stare. When Tyson stepped in the ring, he pulled the cut up towel off his shoulders and threw it in Etienne’s direction. “Right then,” McGirt said, “you could see Cliff’s spirit leave his body.”

Wilder likes to be similarly intimidating. He sneers at opponents at press conferences. He wears masks into the ring. He takes trash talk to extremes. In 2018, Wilder was criticized for declaring that he wanted to kill someone in the ring. “I want a body on my record,” Wilder said. The comment was widely criticized. Wilder says he doesn’t regret it. He just wants people to understand it.

“Where I'm standing at, the occupation that I'm in, knowing that my opponent is trying to hurt me, trying to knock me out, we all say we want to knock each other out,” Wilder told SI.com. “Look in the history. Last year, three guys died. You can die in this ring. It's just as simple as that. Your head's not meant to be hit in the first place. When I say things like that, people got to understand that's just my mannerism as a king, as a champion, my ego in boxing. Have I said that outside of boxing? No one's seeing me go around saying, ‘I want to kill someone’ if it's not boxing related.”

“I don't want to be the f**king villain. I'm the good guy. I want to be the hero. I don't want to play the bad guy. That ain't my part. I take care of too many people. I sacrifice myself too much to be the villain.”

On Saturday, Wilder will get another chance to showcase his power. He will make tens of millions in a fight that has received unprecedented promotion. But for Wilder, the rematch with Fury offers much more. After knocking out Ortiz last fall, Wilder asked for appreciation. “I need my due respect, please,” Wilder said. As much as anything, Wilder wants to be considered an all-time great. Deep down, it infuriates him that there are those that see him as something else. He sees the disrespect as deep rooted, racial even.

“I put into my greatness into boxing,” Wilder said. “For 12 years I've been knocking guys out. What other fighter has been doing that? I've been doing it continuously, consistently, over and over again, no matter what city, state, or country I'm in. It's the same thing. The same result happened. As I look at it, when people come to the heavyweight division, they come to see the knockouts. They come to see the dramatic and great moments that I display each and every time. So why am I not getting the proper love and respect that I should? And then that's when you resort back to color. You resort back to being a strong black man, being so opinionated, open minded. People don't like that for some apparent reason. For me, my talk is my talk as well as my walk. I walk it like I talk it as well, so they have to be careful and come with me with caution.”

Wilder’s legacy to this point is a complicated one. He is undefeated. He is arguably the most powerful puncher in boxing history. But his resume is thin. His record is filled with mediocre opponents. Ortiz, who Wilder stopped twice, represents his only significant win. He needed two knockdowns just to secure a draw with Fury, who was two extremely low level fights removed from a 2 ½ year layoff. Fury has called Wilder’s opponents “a few former football players, a few has-been’s and a load of bums.”

This is what makes the Fury fight so compelling. A win fleshes out that resume. Wilder insists that this time, he will leave no doubt. A right arm injury limited him the first time around. Deas says he suffered the injury at the beginning of camp and didn’t throw punches with his right hand in sparring. This camp has gone without incident. Wilder will look for the knockout, but he is preparing for any kind of fight.

“You have to be versatile in there,” Wilder said. “I'm like an oatmeal pack. I come in varieties of flavors.”

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Win, and there is an agreement in place for a third fight. Win again, and a showdown with Dillian Whyte, a top-level heavyweight who is the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt, will follow. Win that and perhaps an anticipated matchup with Anthony Joshua, a fight that would be one of the biggest in boxing history.

Wilder wants your respect. Fury stands in the way of getting it.