An emotional Deontay Wilder says the fire is back and he's ready to knock out Derek Chisora

Deontay Wilder is one of boxing's most charismatic personalities. His signature howl of "Bomb Squad" is known throughout the world, along with his highlight reel knockouts that led to Wilder making 10 consecutive defenses of the WBC heavyweight championship and one of boxing's biggest attractions. 

After knocking out Luis Ortiz for the second time in November 2020, his record was 42-0-1 with 41 KOs. Then the wheels fell off for Wilder. He's gone 2-4 and getting knocked out in three of those losses. At times in those fights, it appeared Wilder wanted to be anywhere but a boxing ring. Many around boxing were wondering what was going on with Wilder and if he should consider not coming back after a fifth-round loss in June 2024 to Zhilei Zhang. Wilder took a year off and rebounded at the end of June with a seventh-round stoppage win over Tyrrell Herndon.

Now, the 40-year-old returns on April 4 at The O2 Arena in London as Wilder battles fellow heavyweight slugger Derek Chisora live on DAZN. When asked by Adam Smith if the "Bronze Bomber" was still there, Wilder got extremely emotional. At times, Wilder teared up while talking about the personal issues, including a split with his then-fiance that he's been dealing with for the last couple of years. Wilder admitted it has affected his fight career and got to the point where he ended up going to therapy.

"It’s ready to bust out. It will on April 4," Wilder said. "I’ve been through a lot outside the ring. Usually my problems outside the ring, I can usually can handle them but the journey I had to go through was above me. I had to do a lot of work mentally. Physically, I never left. Mentally, I was done for. When a man loves, he loves hard. When his heart is broken, it’s a devastating thing. It’s almost like you want to kill yourself.

"But I had to put my heart back together. Most of the time, I was convincing myself that I’d be alright. I can do it. But I was lying to myself. I had to come to a certain realization. Certain fights were a measuring stick of whether I’m really there or not. It gave me the answer. The last defeat I knew exactly. I went to Shelly (Finkel), and we handled that. That’s why there are things to get help for certain things. As my race of people, it's hard to seek therapists because we have gone through so much in life. The generational trauma things that we think we can handle. When you go try it, you find out it's alright.

"Here I am now. The rebuild of myself. I’m human just like everybody else. I’ve been through my trials and tribulations of things. And here is the product right now. I still got more left. The fire is still in me, and it will show."

A lot is on the line for Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs). He understands that this Chisora fight is a win-or-go-home situation. Wilder feels there's only one way April 4 will go. 

"Victory by knockout," Wilder proclaimed.

The Ring

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