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How Deontay Wilder went from IHOP to heavyweight champion
June 14, 2015:
There are no professional sports teams in Alabama. The Crimson Tide are THE professional team. As a young boy, Wilder was torn between basketball and football. He chose the pigskin and wanted to embark on a path to the NFL. He enrolled at Shelton State Junior College in Tuscaloosa with the goal of playing major Division I college football.
The path ended when his daughter Naieya was born on March 20, 2005 and boxing entered his mind.
"I was a fan of boxing growing up," Wilder said. "I loved it growing up. I loved to watch it. Boxing didn't come until later on. I went to college and had my daughter. When I had her, it changed my life forever and my career. This is how I got into boxing and here I am now."
When she was born, Naieya was diagnosed with spina bifida, a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly. Wilder dropped out of Shelton State, and with bills mounting he needed a plan. He needed for it to happen quickly. Wilder ended up taking jobs at local chain restaurants and as a delivery truck driver to make ends meet.
"I went from IHOP, to AI-Three Company, Red Lobster and Budweiser," Wilder said. "The most interesting job was a delivery driver for Budweiser. I was still an amateur boxer. I had to get up at 4:30-5 a.m. every morning and I had to lift multiple amounts of beer. They probably put 1,000 cases of beer on my truck. I considered that a morning workout."
Wilder, who was 19 years old when everything was happening with Naieya, really didn't know what boxing was. He would watch certain fighters with his friends on television, but when Wilder decided he was going to give it a go, he realized he had found his calling...
After only 20 amateur fights, Wilder won the Olympic trials and qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won the bronze medal and was the only American to medal. When the Games commenced, Wilder turned professional and off he went.
June 14, 2015:
There are no professional sports teams in Alabama. The Crimson Tide are THE professional team. As a young boy, Wilder was torn between basketball and football. He chose the pigskin and wanted to embark on a path to the NFL. He enrolled at Shelton State Junior College in Tuscaloosa with the goal of playing major Division I college football.
The path ended when his daughter Naieya was born on March 20, 2005 and boxing entered his mind.
"I was a fan of boxing growing up," Wilder said. "I loved it growing up. I loved to watch it. Boxing didn't come until later on. I went to college and had my daughter. When I had her, it changed my life forever and my career. This is how I got into boxing and here I am now."
When she was born, Naieya was diagnosed with spina bifida, a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly. Wilder dropped out of Shelton State, and with bills mounting he needed a plan. He needed for it to happen quickly. Wilder ended up taking jobs at local chain restaurants and as a delivery truck driver to make ends meet.
"I went from IHOP, to AI-Three Company, Red Lobster and Budweiser," Wilder said. "The most interesting job was a delivery driver for Budweiser. I was still an amateur boxer. I had to get up at 4:30-5 a.m. every morning and I had to lift multiple amounts of beer. They probably put 1,000 cases of beer on my truck. I considered that a morning workout."
Wilder, who was 19 years old when everything was happening with Naieya, really didn't know what boxing was. He would watch certain fighters with his friends on television, but when Wilder decided he was going to give it a go, he realized he had found his calling...
After only 20 amateur fights, Wilder won the Olympic trials and qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won the bronze medal and was the only American to medal. When the Games commenced, Wilder turned professional and off he went.
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