LAS VEGAS – Deontay Wilder feels like he is just getting started.
The undefeated WBC heavyweight champion turned 34 on October 22. That’s usually an age by which boxers are considered outside of their physical primes.
Wilder believes he is an anomaly, however, because he got such a late start in boxing and hasn’t absorbed an inordinate amount of punishment throughout his time in this brutal sport.
In fact, Wilder is convinced he could fight well into his 40s if he so chooses. Wilder would prefer to get out of boxing by the time he turns 40, the given age of his opponent Saturday night, Luis Ortiz.
That timetable would afford the knockout artist from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, six years to win the type of fights and earn the type of money he seeks before retirement.
“I think I’m in the start of the prime of my career,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com following his grand arrival Tuesday at MGM Grand. “You know, I’m a young 34, haven’t took too much beatings on me. And I feel great. At 34, I only have six years [left], and that’s by choice. I can probably go until 47, 50 years old, because of my late start and I have the power to do so. Like I said, these fighters have to stay perfect for me for 12 rounds. It only take me two seconds, baby, and that’s just the one-two.”
The 6-feet-7 Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) will face the 6-feet-4 Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) at MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same site where George Foreman’s comeback peaked 25 years ago. Foreman was 45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their November 1994 bout to become boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion.
Persistent skeptics suggest Ortiz is older than his given age, a common suspicion of athletes from Cuba.
“You know, we’re always hearing about his age, his age, his age,” said Wilder, who took up boxing at 20 and made his pro debut when he was 23. “But who really cares? We’ve seen many a guys with age and still go and dominate and defeat [younger fighters]. I can think of two right off the top of my head that have done an amazing job – that’s Bernard Hopkins and we know George Foreman came back at what, 45, 46, and did the impossible. We’ve gotta understand that age ain’t nothing but a number.”
Their 12-round rematch for Wilder’s title is the main event of FOX Sports’ four-fight, pay-per-view telecast (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $74.95 in HD).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.