In 2007, the American won the National Golden Gloves and US Championships at heavyweight.
The following year after just 21 bouts he won the US trials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, qualifying the 23-year-old for The Games.
Before going to China he defeated world championship silver medalist and future Olympic champion Rakhim Chakhiyev, in Russia.
Following wins over Abdelaziz Touilbini and Arjaoui of Morocco, he lost in the semi-finals in China to Clemente Russo.
That earned him the bronze medal and he took inspiration from the legendary Joe Louis’ ‘Brown Bomber’ nickname to name himself the ‘Bronze Bomber,’ as he turned professional.
Deontay Wilder’s Professional Career
He started his career in the paid ranks later that year, defeating Ethan Cox with a second round stoppage.
The Deontay Wilder boxing record got a very obvious pattern to it early on, as he won his first 32 fights inside the distance.
After the first win, his next eight fihts all ended in the first round, his tenth fight went to the third round and his 13th ended in the fourth period of three minutes.
After that incredible run he finally got the chance to compete for a version of the world title at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, in January 2015.
He faced WBA heavyweight world champion Bermane Stiverne and was taken the distance by the Haitian, who’d won the title in his previous fight.
A unanimous points decision kicked off a near four year run of another seven wins inside the distance including defeating Stiverne for a second time, this time right at the end of the first round.
After beating Luis Ortiz to make his record 40-0, the Bronze Bomber faced Tyson Fury for the first time.
He knocked the Gypsy King down in the 12th round but the Brit made a miraculous recovery.
The judges scored the fight as a draw and both fighters believed they’d done enough to win, leading to the rematch.
This time Fury took the centre of the ring from the start and was far more aggressive from the outset, knocking the champ down twice and eventually winning the fight in the seventh round.
Wilder started the fight well but was sent to the canvas in the second round, he recovered to get back on top and twice knocked down Fury.
However, the undefeated champion went on to win with an eleventh round stoppage, by which point he was ahead on the scorecards.
Wilder’s most recent fight was a win over Robert Helenius in October 2022, winning in the first round.
Deontay Wilder Bio
As well as the Deontay Wilder boxing record, which is very impressive, there are certainly some questions about him.
It’s been claimed that he only has one route to victory, by knocking people out. Whilst that’s no bad thing necessarily, questions about his other abilities as a boxer have yet to be answered.
He likes to get in his opponent’s head with his bombastic style on the microphone, as well as screaming ‘BOMB SQUAD!', and is definitely worth watching both inside and outside of the ring.
His excuses for the loss against Fury in the second fight were the subject of much mockery, blaming the weight of the outfit he wore on the way to the ring.
He also blamed his water being spiked and Fury cheating, Later the heavyweight sacked his trainer Mark Breland for throwing in the towel.
Ryan Sidle is a sports journalist with nearly a decade in the industry. He's been interested in boxing since Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno and his MMA fandom was sparked by Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva.
