Wilder hopes to come in from cold
BOXING: Deontay Wilder will aim to rekindle America’s love affair with heavyweight boxing at noon tomorrow (AEST) when he faces Britain’s Tyson Fury in a high-stakes showdown of undefeated fighters.
As the reigning World Boxing Council champion, Wilder is the latest custodian of a belt which has been worn by some of the heavyweight division’s most iconic names stretching back more than 50 years.
Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson head the who’s who of Wilder’s predecessors, evoking an era when heavyweight boxing was an integral part of the US sporting landscape.
Yet as Wilder prepares for the eighth defence of a title he has held since 2015, he remains a virtual unknown.
For Wilder, the fight at the Staples Center in Los Angelese is an opportunity to announce himself to a significant audience.
“America has a mighty man in me,” Wilder boasted at an illtempered press conference in Los Angeles this week.
“America has the baddest man on the planet.
“I put in the hard work to make it here. I’ve grinded and worked. There’s no way I’m going to let a man come from another country and take what I’ve been building.”
Victory for Wilder or Fury will thrust them to the front of the queue to face Britain’s Anthony Joshua, holder of the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organisation heavyweight belts.