On March 15th in Puerto Rico, heavyweights Deontay Wilder (30-0 with 30 KOs) and Malik Scott (36-1-1 with 13 KOs) will square off on the Danny Garcia – Mauricio Herrera undercard. The 2 are both friends that are hoping a win against each other will propel themselves into a bigger fight, possibly for a title. On Thursday, Wilder was nice enough to call in to ThaBoxingVoice podcast to answer some of the questions people were wondering, like the level of competition he has face, the Tyson Fury negotiations, and his hunger to strive to the top of the heavyweight division.
We asked him how he prepares himself for facing adversity since he hasn’t had to do it in the ring so far with his level of competition, Wilder responded, “I prepared in my mind, mentally, for any situation. Even though people look at it and say that fight was it, no fight is easy. There is no guarantee that you are going to go in there and beat somebody. I go in there like they are the champions, like the Klitschko’s, I train hard. I don’t take anybody lightly.” Then we asked him if he looks at Malik Scott as his biggest challenge to date, “I look at every last 1 of them as a big challenge for me. I’m definitely going in to knock him out, even though we’re friends, but you got to put that aside for 1 night and friends don’t pay bills”, said Wilder.
We then moved onto the terms of this fight and if there were there any complications in negotiations for this fight because they were friends. Wilder replied, “Truth be told, Malik was supposed to fight in AC. At 1st I was like, ‘That’s my man, that’s my dude, we gotten fight each other’, but I feel it makes sense. To me he’s still undefeated. I don’t care what anyone says. This is a 50-50 fight. It’s a great fight, no matter what, may the best man win.”
Then Wilder was asked about the failed negotiations between himself and Tyson Fury, as Wilder wanted to fight him, Fury seemed to also want it, but Wilder says that Fury’s team then started backing out. Wilder stated, “When I was over there in England, they put up a little stunt. They wanted Tyson to get in the ring and announce he wanted to fight me in NY. They expected it to intimidate me. I heard them call my name and I didn’t know what was going on. I was excited, I said let’s do it. They saw my size and physical attributes, man, I don’t think he got what he thought he was going to get. They thought I was going to say no. So when Richard (Schafer) tried to call them back, their team didn’t answer. They know what’s up man.”
The next topic was based on him fighting in the enemy’s backyard. We asked since he saw what happened to Malik Scott and Ray Beltran in England, if it was in his nature to go over there and fight the UK guys or if he wants them to come to the US. “I don’t have any problem going nowhere. I’m a fighter and I want to become legendary and I feel for me to do that I have to fight all over the world. I don’t want to be set that I just have to fight in the United States because I might get robbed somewhere else. I love to travel, I love to go in their backyard, cross enemy lines, I love doing that. I’m confident in my ability. The Olympics got my mind to where I’m comfortable where ever I go, with the foods, the languages, anywhere I go. If it’s anything in my power, I try not to leave it in the judge’s hands. I just go in there, let my hands go, and try to rip they head off. That way when you knock em out they already know who one, you ain’t leaving nothing in the judge’s hands”, said Wilder.
To end it the interview, Wilder stated, “I train to come and kill, when that bell rings I’m a totally different Deontay. I don’t hear the fans, I don’t even see the ref so he liable to get hit if he get in the way. I told Malik when that bell rings, you not my friend no more. I’m a serious fighter. I may not have been boxing since I was young, but I’ve been fighting since I was young, I’m a fighter. Any fighter in this world, if you listening, you can keep my name in your mouth, I applaud you for that, but when it’s time to put up or shut up, when it’s time to fight me, you better bring it. My time is this year and I’m about to show the world. I’m coming to destroy.”
Deontay Wilder can be reach for all his social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) all under the name @BronzeBomber. For audio to the entire interview with Deontay Wilder, the link is below.
