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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. [Click Here To Read More]
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. [Click Here To Read More]
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