The last stand.. Deontay Wilder returns June 27th.

A ‘Tater man’ is a baseball term which refers to being a one shot home run hitter, in the late 80s, Ring magazine published a story referencing boxings equivalent of the quintessential ‘Tater man’ noting the one punch Ko artists of that period. If we were to create a fighter, most notably a heavyweight who perfectly fits the bill as a present day ‘Tater man’ we’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t include former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Interesting Fact: between turning pro in 2008 and his first championship fight in 2015, not one of Wilders 32 opponents heard the final bell. In fact in those 32 fights he’d only actively boxed 58 rounds an average of 1.8 rounds per fight. However following 10 successful title defences as WBC champion, the inevitable happened as is often the case with fighters that are considered invincible, he suddenly appeared very human in his 0-2-1 trilogy against Tyson Fury. However, in defeat Wilder displayed remarkable courage and grit in very physical fights where he was outclassed and quite frankly out-muscled, a hard pill to swallow considering the high expectation the American public had burdened on him for a decade. Nevertheless out of the gun-smoke Wilder showed impressive character in rebuilding himself with the plan being, a handful of high profile victories leading to a lucrative yet later than advertised meeting with another former champion in Anthony Joshua.. unfortunately the one weapon that had acted as his saving grace, suddenly seemed to have abandoned him, losing twice in fights where he struggled to pull the trigger and appeared a frail shadow of his former menacing self. The final defeat a shockingly stark knockout at the hands of Zhilei Zhang looked to many as the final curtain. Everyone in boxing had the opinion that a return to the highest level was too steep a mountain to climb for the Alabama fighter, for the first time in 16 years the hazy mist of retirement hung in the air as the bullets that had once shot Wilder to prominence, were no longer firing. What followed was a personal odyssey, Wilder separated himself from long time partner Telli Swift and withdrew from the public eye following some domestic abuse allegations. Wilder recently disclosed that he felt extremely betrayed by most of those that surrounded him when he was riding the crest of his championship wave and felt that he was too giving and enabled certain individuals to exist and drain his positive energy along with his finances. Deontay felt that he had been far too generous to everyone close to him and after some deep soul searching and introspective healing, emerged as a more selfish man, in an attempt to reclaim his passion for competitive boxing. So here we are, June 27th, and a low key return to the ring in Wichita Kansas where he takes on 24-5 Texan, Tyrell Herndon in a 10 round heavyweight bout that will be televised on USA network as a PPV feature. In 2018 Wilder fired then head coach Mark Breland and employed former foe Malik Scott to fill the void, this week Wilder chose to part ways with Scott albeit amicably. Deontay now considers Don House as his head coach, the man who ironically prepared Bermaine Stiverne to face him on the night he won the championship. Deontay Wilder isn’t the Bronze Bomber that terrorised the division a decade ago, but it’s interesting to see if the rebirth of a more clear minded version with and more positive outlook can navigate himself back into some kind of relevance in the division, Herndon isn’t the type of opponent to put a fire in Wilders belly, but it’s a chance to evaluate where Wilder stands within the bigger heavyweight landscape, regardless of anything Wilder remains a colourful and refreshing addition to a fairly stagnant division and will always bring his unique brand of tenacity to the table.