Deontay Wilder Keeping Boxing Relevant in Hometown

By Jake Donovan

It’s nearly impossible for a fighter to command attention in the South, where college football isn’t just a sport but a culture and way of life for its throng of fans. It’s even tougher for a fighter when their hometown is headquarters for one of the most dominant college football programs in history.

Yet just as he does in life, unbeaten 6’7” heavyweight Deontay Wilder manages to stand out from the crowd, even as the University of Alabama is in the hunt for yet another national championship.

The #1 ranked Crimson Tide will have to win a semifinal matchup versus #4 Ohio State in order to advance to the Championship game on January 12 in Arlington, Texas.

If both entities have their way, the city of Tuscaloosa can crown two champions in the span of less than a week; five days later, Wilder faces current heavyweight titlist Bermane Stiverne at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“This is a football state. They got a team about to win another rational championship, yet they still talking about boxing,” insists Wilder (32-0, 32KOs), a fixture in the local sports pages for as long as he’s been boxing.

The bout—which will air live on SHOWTIME—marks his first crack at a major title, angling to become the first American heavyweight to claim a title since Shannon Briggs’ second title reign came to an abrupt end in June ’07.

Restoring glory in the American boxing landscape is familiar territory for Wilder. The 29-year old remains the last U.S. male boxer to have medaled in the Olympics, bringing home the bronze as the only member of the 2008 U.S. squad to claim hardware during the summer games in Beijing as a gangly 22-year old still relatively new to the sport.

Six years later, Wilder is among a small crop of American heavyweights in which the adoring public has faith in capturing a major belt in what has historically always served as boxing’s glory division. That dynamic has drastically changed in recent years, in part due to the Eastern Bloc party—namely Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko—that has dominated the top level, but also due to most notable heavyweight title fights developing into lumbering affairs.

The current top heavyweights have taken note, with plenty of action to be found among boxing’s big boys over the past year. The January 17 bout in Las Vegas has been well-received from the moment it was announced—though following months of dragged out negotiations¬—with Wilder potentially flipping the division on its heels as a key portion of the promotion.

“It’s an exciting time (for heavyweights),” Wilder believes. “To say I was part of the movement bringing excitement back to the heavyweight division is an honor.”

So, too, will his bringing home a belt and perhaps stealing a few more headlines from whatever comes of the Crimson Tide’s 2014 football season. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox