By Jake Donovan - Just by his physical dimensions alone, Deontay Wilder commands attention no matter where he goes. Add a 6’7” frame to an always lean-yet-muscular physique, and you have an entity that commands immediate attention.
When you live in college football-crazed Alabama, you better have something to make the average sports fan notice you. Wilder’s gift comes in his ability to box – enough to where he can get away with sporting the red and black colors of the Georgia Bulldogs, a hated Southeastern Conference (SEC) rival of the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide college football dynasty, whose campus is based out of Wilder’s hometown in Tuscaloosa.
“How can you wear those colors during this time of year,” Wilder is asked as he stands among a modest crowd outside the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
The location serves as fight week headquarters for Wilder’s upcoming heavyweight title defense versus France’s Johann Duhaupas. The bout serves as the first heavyweight title fight in more than 30 years to appear live in primetime on network TV, airing on NBC this Saturday evening from Legacy Arena on BJCC in historic downtown Birmingham.
It’s a country hour from Wilder’s hometown, but close enough to where he’s still an overwhelming favorite among the local public. It’s also close enough to home to where his radiant smile can defuse any tense situation, particularly a subject as touchy as college football in the Deep South.
