Deontay Wilder's birthday
Professional heavyweight boxer Deontay Leshun Wilder was born October 22nd, 1985, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Deontay started out his boxing career at twenty years old in Skyy Boxing Gym (Northport, Alabama) where he trained under coach Jay Deas. In just two years, he progressed rapidly and was the surprise of the event when he won the National Golden Gloves (an amateur boxing competition) and the US championships in 2007. A year later, he defeated Quantis Graves in the Olympic trials twice and won. After a series of successful fights —in which he beat amateur boxers Colombian Deivis Julio, Ecuadorian Jorge Quinones and Brazilian Rafael Lima—, Wider went on to compete at heavyweight in the 2008 Olympics, returning home with the bronze medal. This gave origin to his nickname “The Bronze Bomber.”
In November 2008, Deontay Wilder made his professional boxing debut when he fought against Ethan Cox, winning in the second round by technical knockout. In 2009, Wilder had seven fights, which he won in the first round. By October 2012, Wilder had gone undefeated for twenty-five fights, all won by knockout and within four rounds. By December, Wilder claimed the vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title by winning against Kelvin Price at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles. He successfully defended the title twice.
From 2015 to 2020, Deontay held the WBC heavyweight title (vacant since 2007,) which he earned by fighting Bermane Stiverne at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and won by a unanimous decision after twelve rounds. Wilder defended his title ten times in a five-year span, eventually losing the fight and relinquishing his title to Tyson Fury in February 2020. They fought again in May 2021, with Fury resulting victorious once more. More than a year after his defeat, Wilder returned to the ring in October 2022, winning against Robert Helenius by knockout.
Overall, in his career, Wilder has participated in 46 fights, winning 43 by either knockout or decision, one ending in a draw, and losing two. He also won the Premier Boxing Champions Knockout of the Year award on three occasions (2016, 2017, 2019,) and has received the Ring magazine Knockout of the Year award (2019). Wilder is known for his punching power and holds one of the highest percentages of knockout wins in the world of heavyweight fighting.
