Deontay Wilder posted a lengthy video on Instagram today saying he won’t listen to his critics and suggesting he retire.
Former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) turned 39 last month in October and has lost four of his last five fights. His last loss, a fifth-round knockout to Zhilei Zhang on June 1, was particularly embarrassing given how he was spun around and flattened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Wilder refuses to face the truth
It was Wilder’s second straight loss in Riyadh, and it’s possible he won’t be invited back by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh after that one. While Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are both losing, they have not been beaten twice in a row like Wilder.
Wilder revealed earlier this week that he fought with a broken right arm in his losses to Joseph Parker and Zhang in 2024. Fans didn’t believe a world of what Wilder was saying and saw it as a classic example of a fighter who creates excuses to try and keep people from jumping overboard from his sinking ship.
They feel that Wilder doesn’t want to face the truth that he was shot and may never have been a good fighter.
Wilder’s resume shows that he faced beatable opposition every step of the way until his fight against Tyson Fury in 2018, when he was exposed by a basically British level heavyweight. Deontay made Fury look good, and he was just as protected.
Wilder Stubborn & Defiant
“Listen, everyone’s going to have an opinion about you, but those opinions don’t matter. Life is going to hit you and knock you down,” Deontay Wilder continued Instagram. “It’s the mindset to keep pushing forward.
“I’m way ahead of boxing through losses. I’ve been through challenges long before I stepped foot in the ring. I was beaten and knocked down long before I put on a pair of boxing gloves. I’m still here because it’s the mindset to get back up and keep pushing forward…Another important mission is to get in the ring and do what I was meant to do,” Wilder said.
If Deontay is going to resume his career, he will have to do three things if he wants to right his ship before it sinks:
- Fire coach Malik Scott
- Take four rebuild battles
- Stay away from punchers permanently
