Deontay Wilder says talk is cheap and action is what matters as he prepares to face Tyson Fury for a third time on Saturday October 9.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ bids to regain the WBC title in a huge trilogy match with ‘The Gypsy King’ at T-Mobile Arena – some 20 months after his defeat in their rematch.
Wilder (42-1-1-) suffered his first professional loss as Fury (30-0-1) battered him to a seventh-round stoppage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
After that, Wilder produced a string of excuses for his defeat – including the weight of his elaborate ring walk costume. He then split with trainer Mark Breland, and replaced him with Malik Scott.
Deontay had to win a court ruling earlier this year to force the third fight with Fury, and a July 24 date was scuppered by Tyson testing positive for COVID-19.
Wilder on presser silence
Now the date is set again for October 9, and Wilder claims his silence at the much-analysed press conference to announce the third fight was all part of his masterplan. A plan he says he started devising the very night he lost to Fury in Vegas.
Speaking on the PBC Podcast, he said: “I’m a thinker, I think about a lot of things and my mind is always roaming, always I would call searching the web. I’ve always been a big thinker. It always searches. When the fight was over with, my mind was already on revenge, my mind was already on understanding what was going on with my body. Why I was feeling a certain way.
“As the days unfolded, I started getting confirmation and clarification of other things that had happened. In boxing, it’s just like George Foreman told me, you’ve gotta be careful in boxing who you talk to or who surround yourself by. Because in boxing people talk. People gonna talk about certain things, nothing’s really a secret for real when you know the right people.
“When the situation happened to me, I knew immediately that I had to get rid of a couple of snakes on my team and I had to get in the people that really loved me the most.
“I’m a warrior, I’m a king, man. When a king fall, he gotta strategise, he gotta pick himself back up. No need of moping and pouting and sitting back. You’ve gotta pick yourself up and you’ve gotta make yourself and the people around you even stronger. Because most of the time I am the strength, I am the glue around certain things. People don’t see me down, they don’t see me in a depressing state.”
Deontay on Fury defeat
Wilder says despite people doubting his claims in the aftermath of the defeat by Fury, he knows what is real and what is not.
“A lot of people don’t understand what really happened, they don’t really know the truth. I know the ultimate truth, I know what happened whether nobody believes it or not. My whole team mindset is very violent. That’s what we’re looking for. The key to victory in this fight is gonna be being calm, having a violent mind but approaching it with calmness.
“And my silence is golden, my silence is key to it all. That’s why I haven’t spoken to anyone, even at the press conference and stuff, there’s nothing to say. There ain’t nothing I have to say, I want to show you.”
Deontay says he is in great condition for the bid to regain his title, and feels he finally has the right people around him.
“Camp has been going amazing. I got all the right people I need with me. They got the same mindset as I. All our mindsets is violence right now. We’re looking forward to October 9th and getting it on. This is really a family team and something I shoulda had a long time ago. It’s been rejuvenating for me, refreshing for me.
“If anybody can push you hard it’s the ones that love you the most. They’re the ones who want to see you do well.”
Scott has been a close friend of Wilder for years, so the transition to head trainer has been a seamless one per ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
“It’s amazing. I met Malik years ago, probably a decade. We clicked instantly, when I met him I met his family as well. I cooked for all of them. We just grew a bond then. It’s rare to meet somebody that you instantly click with. His mother’s birthday is on the same day as I, and my mother’s birthday is on the same day as his.
“If anybody can push me to the core, to the edge, to the centre of the earth, it’s Malik Scott. He used to come to all my camps, but he would have a brief visit. Now he’s my head coach and it’s one of the best moves I’ve made in my career.”
