American heavyweight Deontay Wilder has done a complete 180 in regards to his preparation prior to his non-title bout with New Zealander heavyweight Joseph Parker after revealing in a recent interview with Ellie Sekbach from ESNEWS that there were multiple issues plaguing him before his December 23rd loss. Before his unanimous decision (UD) loss to Parker, Wilder had made a plethora of claims that suggested other than what he is claiming now.
Several weeks before his December 23rd fight with Joseph Parker (34-3, 23 KO’s), Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO’s) held an interview during training camp with boxing reporter Ellie Sekbach where he explained how he had been thoroughly preparing himself amidst his inactivity since his first-round knockout of Robert Helenius (32-5, 21 KO’s) in 2022.
“Being that I have already been in several different camps and training and stuff, my body was already in tune, I was already in shape,” Wilder explained his reasoning behind the decision to fight Parker on December 23rd.
“I just had to knock certain kinks off. Although I’ve been inactive in the ring for about a year, my training, my mindset, has still been on it. I always say the saying, ‘my body hasn’t been here, but my mind never left’. We’re just picking of where we’re starting off, and I can’t wait to put on a great performance.“
In another interview held in the build-up to his fight with Parker, Wilder was dismissive of any negative impact that his inactivity might cause him.
“People talk about the layoff and ring rust, I always tell them, look at my last fight [against Robert Helenius], it’s almost a similar thing,” Wilder told Boxing News.
“A year out of the ring, I get back in there [and] I put the work in the gym, and the outcome was one round in the ring. I don’t really gain ring rust because although my body is not in the ring, my mind has never left.“
However, despite Wilder’s previous assertions, his most recent interview with ESNEWS revealed that he had not been in the gym or any training camp for a significant amount of time―unlike what he previously claimed.
“Even with the time [off] I feel as a fighter, you should stay ready, should be ready and that’s the mistake that I made―not staying consistently in the gym,” Wilder told ESNEWS in an interview released on February 8th.
“Like I said, a lot of s*** that done happened to me, and the much success I’ve gained from this have [has] helped push me back a little bit.“
Wilder’s initial claims of usually being in training to now maintaining that he had not been in the gym enough times sends a convoluted message that does not entirely clear up whether he had been thoroughly preparing or not. However, based on his performance against Parker, he had either completely underestimated the New Zealander or not prepared throughout the year―unlike what he had asserted earlier.
Alternatively, Wilder’s statements can be interpreted as excuse-making and can be seen as an attempt to merely hide his own shortcomings.
At any rate, Wilder’s future is very much in his own hand, and the American heavyweight seems to have grasped this as he would go on to explain how his loss to Parker has motivated him to return to boxing and perform better in his next match.
“The last outing showed me where I where [was], and where I need to be,” Wilder said.
“It was a tester [test], because I would have won that fight I would have been at the same training of what I have been doing. I wouldn’t have changed nothing. So that [Parker] fight was a blessing in disguise. It was a boring fight, and nothing really happened.“
