The boisterous Alabaman listened along for years to the same prolonged silence in the U.S. from boxing?s heavyweight division.
What would he do about it? The question inspired anything but subtlety, so he knocked out every man he?s faced.
Turns out all he needed was time. Now, it?s here.
?This is my introduction to the world. The baddest man on the planet, right in front of all of America,? Deontay Wilder said recently as he nears Saturday?s World Boxing Council title defense against England?s Tyson Fury at Staples Center.
?This is the moment people have been looking [forward to] for a very long time, someone to bring the golden age into the modern day right here. People can get damn excited about it. They?ve finally got an American heavyweight, a 6-7 brawler from Alabama with the power possessed by God to baptize this Tyson Fury that they call the ?Gypsy King.? I can?t wait, guys.?
The bout is Wilder?s first Showtime pay-per-view, a clash of unbeaten fighters that matches Wilder?s unorthodox but devastating power against Fury?s (27-0, 19 knockouts) more methodical approach.
It was Fury, 30, who helped end the dominant but uninspiring title reign of Ukraine?s Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. The unanimous-decision victory over Klitschko led to a fall into drug addiction, depression and weight gain and allowed countryman Anthony Joshua to establish himself as the biggest name in the heavyweight division.
Wilder, meanwhile, furthered the resolve that made him a surprise 2008 Olympic bronze medalist by improving his technique with a better jab and left hook.
Now 33, he?s 40-0 with 39 KOs, the latest a March rally from head-rocking, leg-wilting blows by Cuba?s Luis Ortiz to win by 10th-round technical knockout in what might stand as the fight of the year.
?I finally have the right dancing partner for this,? Wilder said. ?In all my fights before this, I?ve had to promote the fight myself. Guys were scared to talk, afraid to say what they?re going to do ? because they didn?t know what they were going to do.
?This is the moment many fighters try to reach. I?m here. I?m finally here. I?m going to make the best of it, and make sure the fight lives up to the hype.?
Time was, American heavyweights carried the sport. From Jack Johnson to Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano to Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier, with Mike Tyson captivating the nation?s attention each time he fought during his reign.
?This does signal the return of the heavyweight division,? Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza said. ?It?s the reinvigoration of the division that once was the bread and butter of the sport.
Wilder has studied where Klitschko failed against Fury by being too tentative.
Unlike Klitschko, ?I have a killer instinct. I?m sure [Klitschko] thinks about that fight all the time. He has to. To get defeated by Tyson Fury after being a champion so long ? and then you don?t throw half the punches you throw, that?s going to ? with you ? for the rest of your life. I don?t care who you are.
?I don?t want any excuses or regrets. I want to say I gave it my all ? knock him out and give L.A. something it?s never seen before.?
