Deontay Wilder

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Deontay Leshun Wilder (born October 22, 1985 in Tuscaloosa) is the reigning United States Amateur Heavyweight Champion and now a professional boxer. He won the amateur championship and national Golden Gloves championship in 2007 and was the only American boxer to medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Wilder graduated from Tuscaloosa Central High School in 2004 and dreamed of playing football or basketball for the hometown Crimson Tide, but academic issues forced him to work on his grades at Shelton State Community College. Once his girlfriend became pregnant and the child was diagnosed with spina bifida, he took a job as a truck driver for Budweiser.

Wilder began to train as a boxer at Jay Deas' gym in October 2005 and soon came under the tutelage of trainer Ace Miller of Knoxville, Tennessee. In the 2007 Golden Gloves national championship he defeated cadet world champion Isiah Thomas and David Thompson to reach the finals. There he defeated Quantis Graves and won a 31-15 decision over James Zimmerman.

Also in 2007 he made an impressive showing at the Olympic Trials, besting Graves twice more before winning the competition in 21 bouts. He lost a 20-23 decision to Poland's Krzysztof Zimnoch in that year's world championships.

Wilder began 2008 by defeating Rakhim Chakhiyev in Russia. He qualified for the Olympics by defeating Deivis Julio of Columbia, Jorge Quinones of Ecuador and Rafael Lima of Brazil. During the Olympics he defeated Abdelaziz Toulbini of Algeria and Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco to reach the semifinal bout in Worker's Indoor Arena in Beijing. There he lost to Clemente Russo of Italy and finished with a Bronze medal.

Wilder made his professional debut on the undercard of Jeff Lacy versus Jermain Taylor fight. He fought Ethan Cox and won by technical knock-out in the second round of a four-round bout.

Professional bouts (10-0)

  • November 15, 2008: Def. Ethan Cox (TKO 2-4) at Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee
  • March 6, 2009: Def. Shannon Gray (TKO 1-4) at Trotter Convention Center, Columbus, Mississippi
  • March 14, 2009: Def. Richard Greene, Jr (RTD 1-4) at Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • April 24, 2009: Def. Joseph Rabotte (KO 1-4) at UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
  • May 23, 2009: Def. Charles Brown (KO 1-6) at Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • June 26, 2009: Def. Kelsey Arnold (KO 1-4) at Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona
  • August 14, 2009: Def. Travis Allen (TKO 1-4) at Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona
  • November 28, 2009: Def. Jerry Vaughn (KO 1-6) at Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • April 2, 2010: Def. Tyson Cobb (KO 1-6) at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
  • April 30, 2010: Def. Alvaro Morales (TKO 3-6) at Tropicana Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada

References

  • Coulter, Lucinda (May 6, 2007) "Deontay Wilder wins national Golden Gloves championship." Tuscaloosa News
  • Carpenter, Les (August 22, 2010) "Fighting for His Dream, And for His Little Girl."
  • Deontay Wilder (February 13, 2010) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - accessed May 1, 2010

External links

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