Deontay Wilder

Wilder comes from a family of preachers in Alabama, including his father and grandmother, and grew up attending church weekly. He has three sisters and a younger brother, Marsellos Wilder, who also competed as a professional boxer in the cruiserweight division. In May 2022, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, honored him by unveiling a bronze statue in his likeness.

Wilder is the father of eight children. His eldest daughter was born in 2005 with spina bifida to his former girlfriend Helen Duncan. He later married Jessica Scales-Wilder in 2009, with whom he had two daughters and a son before they divorced. He was subsequently engaged to television personality Telli Swift, with whom he shares a child, though the couple later separated.

Wilder took up boxing relatively late at age 20 in October 2005, entering Skyy Boxing Gym in Northport, Alabama, to train under Jay Deas. He had previously aspired to play football or basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide, but shifted his focus to boxing to support his newborn daughter following her medical diagnosis.

His amateur rise was rapid. By 2007, he won both the National Golden Gloves and the U.S. National Championships at heavyweight. After winning the U.S. Olympic trials in only 21 bouts, Wilder represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he defeated Abdelaziz Touilbini and Mohamed Arjaoui before losing to Clemente Russo in the semifinals. As the sole American boxer to medal at the 2008 Games, his bronze medal earned him his lifelong ring moniker, "The Bronze Bomber," coined in tribute to boxing great Joe Louis.

Wilder turned professional in November 2008, stopping Ethan Cox in two rounds. Over the next six years, he built a reputation for devastating punching power, winning his first 32 fights by knockout. In December 2012, he claimed the WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title by stopping Kelvin Price, later adding high-profile first-round knockout victories against Audley Harrison, Siarhei Liakhovich, and Malik Scott.

On January 17, 2015, Wilder fought Bermane Stiverne for the WBC heavyweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Wilder won by unanimous decision over twelve rounds, becoming the first American world heavyweight champion since 2007 and ending the longest title drought in U.S. boxing history. Over the next five years, Wilder made ten consecutive successful title defenses, stopping challengers such as Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka, Chris Arreola, Gerald Washington, and Dominic Breazeale. He also knocked out Stiverne in the first round of their 2017 rematch and twice defeated Cuban contender Luis Ortiz by stoppage in 2018 and 2019.

In December 2018, Wilder faced former unified champion Tyson Fury in Los Angeles. Despite knocking Fury down twice, including a heavy knockdown in the twelfth round, the bout concluded in a split decision draw. In their February 2020 rematch, Wilder suffered his first professional defeat when his corner threw in the towel during the seventh round, ending his five-year title reign. The rivalry concluded in October 2021 in Las Vegas with an acclaimed back-and-forth contest featuring five total knockdowns; Fury ultimately prevailed by eleventh-round knockout.

Following the trilogy, Wilder returned in October 2022 with a first-round knockout of Robert Helenius in Brooklyn. He subsequently faced setbacks in Saudi Arabia, losing a unanimous decision to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and suffering a fifth-round stoppage against Zhilei Zhang in June 2024. Wilder rebounded in June 2025 with a seventh-round technical knockout over Tyrrell Anthony Herndon in Wichita, Kansas, before earning a split decision victory over Derek Chisora at London's O2 Arena in April 2026.