In an attempt to humanize Deontay Wilder, who continues to muse aloud about getting ?a body on my record,? a video appeared on al.com in which the ?Bronze Bomber? from Tuscaloosa was asked about his favorite movies. The Alabaman didn?t provide a top-10 list. Instead, he offered a top-4 list, and the only surprise is how few surprises there were.
With generic music tinkling in the background and Wilder full of bonhomie, he said, ?Number one is more so a documentary. I still have VHS tapes of this documentary to this day and that?s ?Muhammad Ali,? one through 12 of how he became who he is from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.?
It was not an in-depth analysis of the one Ali documentary I have not seen. I thought for a moment that Wilder was going to mention ?When We Were Kings.? I thought wrong.
?The second one I enjoyed was the movie ?Creed? with Michael B. Jordan in it. I thought he did a great job,? said the WBC champ. ?Although the only thing about how he started out and came up so fast, I don?t think it really works like that. But it was a great movie.?
I knew ?Rocky,? in one variation or another, would make the list. I?m no fan of the franchise, having walked out of the original and condemned it at the time as a cartoon. But I?m also not one of three heavyweight champions of the world.
Wilder continued, ?Another one is of course the boxing movie everyone loves, around the world, and that?s ?Rocky.? I really loved that movie. It really shows you the groundwork from the bottom on your way to the top, having the determination, the will, the motivation, the outstanding courage in just getting all the way to the top.?
With ?Rocky? having won two of three spots on Wilder?s four-film roster, my discouragement grew. But then the big man caught me looking.
?I love that movie ?Million Dollar Baby,?? Wilder said. ?Of course it?s about a female working her way up. A lot of people don?t enjoy women?s boxing. It?s one of those sports that has to grow on you. I think women are as strong as men. I don?t think there?s nothing a woman can?t do that a man can do. We always stereotype women, but women are some of the strongest people on this earth.?
