LONDON (Jan 15) – Charismatic heavyweight Deontay Wilder will be fighting to fulfil a promise he made to his daughter when he challenges for the heavyweight world title this weekend.
The 29-year-old knockout king takes on the reigning WBC champion Bermane Stiverne at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, live and exclusive on BoxNation, as he chases boxing’s most illustrious prize.
Wilder’s hunt for sports most coveted accolade, however, is being fuelled by a promise the 6ft 7inch star made to his daughter nine-year-old daughter Naieya, who was born with spina bifida but proved doctors wrong by being able to walk.
“We inspire each other every day. When she was one year old I promised her that I would become world champion. And I know it’s going to be a reality. And I will. She has been through so much in her nine years of living. But she’s good now,” said Wilder.
“She knows what’s going on and a lot of people say that she’s my number one fan and she is my ultimate number one fan.
“She motivates me to keep going because I know that as a nine‐year‐old girl and having gone through everything – the needles and the surgeries – if she can go through that I can go through the trials and tribulations of becoming world champion,” he said.
Though Wilder is eager to hear his name announced as the new champion, his proudest moment will be when he can place the belt on his daughter’s lap.
“Throughout my life I have never met a Wilder that wasn’t tough. We are all strong. I’ve got a big family and we don’t know what it’s like to be given anything,” Wilder said.
“I’m going to be a proud father when I come back and show her what I’ve done and I can’t let her down. It’s like making God a promise. She’s counting on me and I never let my children down.
“If I said I was going to do something or be somewhere at a certain time, no matter how busy my schedule got I did it for them. It’s a love for your children and I love them dearly. It’s just something that I promised my daughter a long time ago and it’s got to be fulfilled,” he said.
‘The Bronze Bomber’, though, will have to get past the fearsome champion Stiverne if he is to realise his dream of becoming a world champion.
The Haitian-born hitter, who has 21 knockouts from his 24 wins, is making the first defence of his title which he won in May by stopping the tough Chris Arreola in six rounds.
With Wilder’s stunning knockout record, having laid out all of his 32 opponents, the Tuscaloosa hitman believes that it could be a short night’s work once again.
“The guy has some credible knockouts on his resume. But like he said before, on January 17th, don’t blink. He said it perfectly, so we’ll find out,” said Wilder
“I am looking forward to answering a lot of questions about me. Some will be answered and some not. We will see. January 17, don’t blink. There is no need for me to stick around for overtime but if the fight needs to go past twelve rounds, bring it on.
“We can go back to fifteen [rounds] if you want to do it. There are no concerns and no worries in my mind, and I promise you, if it goes past four then so be it and the people get their monies worth. If it goes less than four, so be it. But I train for a great fight,” said Wilder.
Stiverne vs Wilder is live on BoxNation (Sky 437/490HD, Virgin 546, TalkTalk 525) this Saturday night. Visit boxnation.com to subscribe.
WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING ON NBCSN HIGHLIGHTED BY JAKE SHIELDS VS. BRIAN FOSTER IN WELTERWEIGHT BOUT THIS SAT., JAN. 17, LIVE AT 9 P.M. ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – Dec. 15, 2015 – World Series of Fighting returns to NBCSN this Saturday, Jan. 18, live at 9 p.m. ET, highlighted by a bout between Jake Shields (30-7) and Brian Foster (22-6) in the welterweight division, with the winner challenging champion Rousimar Palhares for the world title. Foster makes his World Series of Fighting debut on Saturday, while Shields made his first WSoF appearance on NBCSN last October, defeating Ryan Ford in the first round.
The co-main event features undefeated Johnny “Johnny Boy” Nunez (5-0) facing submission specialist Brian “The Bandit” Cobb (20-8, 12 by submission) in a lightweight bout. Saturday’s card also features bouts between undefeated fighters Krasimir “The Wrestler” Mladenov (11-0) and Brendan Kornberger (5-0) in the middleweight division; rising stars Bryson Hansen (7-2) and Rudy “Ruthless” Morales (3-1) in the bantamweight division; and Danny “DEE1” Davis, Jr. (10-8-1) and Adam Cella (6-2) in the welterweight division.
Play-by-play announcer Todd Harris will be joined by mixed martial artists and analysts Bas Rutten and Joey Varner to call the action from the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
NBC Sports Live Extra: World Series of Fighting will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. NBC Sports Live Extra is available for desktops at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, on select devices within Google Play, and on windows phones and tablets.
ABOUT WSOF
World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action-packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow World Series of Fighting on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.
Sampson Boxing Proud Sponsor of WBC ‘Race of Champions’
Sampson Boxing is proud to serve as an official sponsor of this year’s WBC “Race for Champions” on Saturday, January 25, in Mexico City.
6 or 12 kilometers in length, the second annual race is being held to commemorate the late Don Jose Sulaiman, legendary president of the World Boxing Council. Among the expected participants will be several current and former boxing champions and luminaries. The first edition of “Race of Champions” attracted over 4000 participants.
Last year, WBC Champions in the race included the legendary Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, Edgar Sosa, Mariana “Barbie” Juárez, her sister Lourdes, Pablo and Iván Cano, Julio “Pollito” Ceja, Daniel Estrada, Daniel Zaragoza, Silver champion Jessica Chávez, Jhonny González, interim champion Jessica González, Referee Lupe García, Silver youth champion Damien Hooper, Ibeth la “Roca” Zamora, Rey Vargas, Jose Luis Bueno, Zulina “Loba” Muñoz, Daniel Evangelista, José “Jaguar” Aguirre and Irma García.
Mexican superhero and longtime WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavez rang the bell to start the race.
“I am very pleased to be part of such a great event to honor a great man like Jose Sulaiman,” said Sampson Lewkowicz, President of Sampson Boxing. “The Sampson Boxing banner will fly proudly that day.”
For more information on WBC “Race of Champions”, visit www.wbcboxing.com.