By Jake Donovan

Deontay Wilder recognizes this assignment well—carry the weight of a nation on your back, as you remain our last hope.

It’s a role he was forced to play more than six years, the last man standing on a U.S. Olympic Boxing team on the brink of elimination and lifelong infamy. Earlier that day on August 17, 2008, Wilder watched his teammate, Demetrius Andrade bow out of competition courtesy of a controversial decision to South Korea’s Jung-Joo Kim.

Andrade was the seventh member eliminated from a U.S. team on the verge of the worst Olympic showing in history, including the 1948 squad that managed just one silver medal in London. Wilder was the least experienced member of the 2008 team, but wasn’t about to allow the U.S, to leave Beijing empty-handed.

That he only managed a bronze still made the team’s run a rung lower than that of the 1948 crew. Yet six years later, Wilder remains the last American male boxer to have claimed an Olympic medal.

Now entering his 33rd fight as a pro, the 6’7” heavyweight is once again called upon to step up for his nation. The love was felt as Wilder left his Tuscaloosa (AL) hometown over the weekend to head for Las Vegas, where he faces reigning heavyweight titlist Bermane Stiverne this upcoming Saturday at the MGM Grand.

The significance of this weekend’s bout—which headlines live on Showtime—is the possibility of an American fighter claiming heavyweight title status for the first time in nearly eight years.

“It’s a crazy moment for me,” Wilder (32-0, 32KOs) admits of the familiar role he’s being asked to play. “It meant everything to me to bring home that bronze medal in 2008. For my country to look at me as its best chance at bringing home the heavyweight championship, I can’t believe I’m in this situation again, but I take a lot of pride in it and plan to make a lot of people proud.”

Shannon Briggs was the last U.S.-born fighter to own a portion of the heavyweight title, having won a belt with a literal last-second knockout of Sergei Liakhovich in Nov. ’06. His stay at the top lasted as long as his next fight, offering his usual non-effort in a 12-round points loss to Russia’s Sultan Ibragimov.  The loss by Briggs completed an Eastern Bloc Party sweep, with Ibragimov joining Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev and Ruslan Chagaev as the division’s titlists at the time.

Today, Klitschko has most of the heavyweight hardware, as well as recognition as the true World lineal champion, an honor he’s held since 2009. The one alphabet belt he’s yet to collect during his second title run that began in April ’06 is the World Boxing Council (WBC) version. A big part of that was due to older brother Vitali Klitschko coming out of retirement and winning it from Samuel Peter in 2008.

Vitali’s retirement led to the title being up for grabs, with that vacancy finally filled last May with Stiverne’s knockout win over Chris Arreola in their action-packed rematch.

The win made Stiverne the first ever Haiti-born heavyweight to claim title status, though his celebration has been spent entirely on the sidelines. He hasn’t fought since, largely due to months-long negotiations with Wilder, his mandatory contender. The two sides—which include Hall-of-Fame promoter Don King (Stiverne) and high-powered adviser Al Haymon (Wilder)—finally reached an agreement late last year on a date and location.

Naturally, the hard-hitting heavyweights were anxious to get in the ring and throw down. But Wilder—a God-fearing man before a fighter—saw it all as part of his chosen path.

“Once they announced the date, I saw this as a plan for Tuscaloosa to celebrate two championships,” noted Wilder, the other championship referring to local college football powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide, who were on pace to compete in the January 12 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) finals.

Alabama was supposed to roll past Ohio State and move on to the national title game in Arlington, Texas. It didn’t work out that way, however, as their game comeback proved too little too late in dropping a 42-35 heartbreaker on January 2.

At the time, it was a devastating blow to Wilder, who was met with the realization that his path to glory was once again a solo trip.

“I was very disappointed at the end of the night,” Wilder said, having watched the game with his boxing team, including longtime trainer and manager Jay Deas. “My desire and dream from the moment I turned pro was for myself and Alabama to win our championships together in the same year.

“For this fight to take place on January 17, I knew it was destiny, that my win would come five days after Alabama won their 16th national championship. When they lost, my heart just dropped.”

Instead, the city of Tuscaloosa turns its lonely eyes to its heavyweight hopeful—a course of action the U.S. takes for the second time in 6 ½ years.

“Once I had time to think on it, what I was left with is that it’s God’s plan for me to travel this journey alone,” Wilder believes. “This has to be my time, not to be shared with anyone else. Alabama, they got all them championships, and there’s still always next year to win another one. Winning the heavyweight title, though, is the experience of a lifetime.

“I went into the Olympics to represent my nation, but also to win a medal. I did that. I turned pro, to represent the United States of America and to win a world title. On January 17, that’s what’s going to happen. It might take one punch, it might take all 12 rounds. However it comes, at the end of the night, you’re going to hear, ‘… and THE NEW!’”

As well as a sigh of relief from American fight fans longing for a portion of the heavyweight crown to come home.

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