By Mike Smith: In an ominous comment from WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, he says he’ll pay for Dominic Breazeale’s funeral after their fight this Saturday night on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder has been talking recently about wanting to get a “body” to add to his resume as a pro.
Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) says he’ll pay for Breazeale’s funeral, but he doesn’t say anything about paying for his medical expenses if he’s hurt in the fight.
The two giant heavyweights have been going back and forth with their trash talking with each seemingly trying to outdo the other with their jarring comments. There’s enough fan interest in the fight for the hyperbolic comments from Wilder and Breazeale to be unnecessary. Nevertheless, the two fighters have been seemingly been trying to top each with each statement they make.
“If anybody thinks this is a game, you better close your eyes. If you’re there, bring a blindfold because this is going to be a tragedy,” Wilder said about his fight with Breazeale. “That’s the least I can do, I can pay for the funeral.”
One of the journalists asked Wilder if he would pay for Breazeale’s funeral. That was what initiated that comment from Wilder. That seemed to give Wilder encouragement to make that remark.
Wilder’s efforts to promote his fight with Breazeale has spun out of control. It’s gotten to the point where it’s turning off a lot of boxing fans to hear Wilder talk about wanting a body, and now paying for Breazeale’s funeral. If the fight was an interesting enough one, the fans would pay attention to it based on the merits. It’s just not an important enough contest for it to interest a lot of the fans. Wilder probably realizes that; hence he’s gone overboard by talking death so frequently.
“His life is on the line for this fight. And I do mean his life. I’m still trying to get a body on my record. This is the only sport where you can kill a man and get paid for it at the same time. It’s legal. Why not use my right to do so?” Wilder said via Michael Benson.
Wilder’s negative comments could hurt future sponsorship opportunities. He might not care about that though. He’s talking about wanting $100 million for a future unification fight against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs). Wilder now believes he can make $100 million for the Joshua fight. That’s hard to imagine. Joshua has never fought in the U.S, and his first match will be taking place next month against a flabby-looking Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua won’t win over too many American boxing fans with that fight. He’s going to need to fight better opposition for him to become popular enough for Wilder to make $100 million fighting him.
World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman said that the WBC will be having a hearing to address Wilder’s comments. He feels they’re completely out of line, and not in keeping with the beliefs of the WBC. It’s not realistic to think that the WBC will strip Wilder if his title due to his comments.
”I’m the king. I’m the man to beat,” Wilder said. ”I’m the name to have on your record. I’m the baddest man in the division. I am the strongest. I hit the hardest. I am the longest reigning heavyweight champion. That’s why I fought Luis Ortiz, because everyone called him the boogeyman. He was high risk low reward. That’s what I did. With Joshua, I tried five times. So many offers, low balling me, and I knew the magnitude of the fight,” Wilder said.
