By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay Wilder says he’s planning on taking a spiritual journey to help guide him to a decision on whether to continue his boxing career following his defeat against Tyson Fury last October.
If Wilder chooses to retire, the sport will be missing a great talent, who still has a lot left in the tank. With Deontay’s power, he can easily fight another seven years and perhaps even more.
Wilder bitter about the cheating
The powerful 6’7″ former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) has been turned off for the sport due to the cheating that goes on, and the politics.
Wilder, 36, feels that when he’s inside the ring, he’s not only fighting his opponent, but also the referee.
Although Wilder isn’t giving any examples of what he feels were instances where he was cheated, some boxing fans believe that he should have won two out of his three fights against Fury.
For example, in Deontay’s trilogy match with Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) on October 9th last year, he dropped him for a second time in the fourth round.
Some boxing fans believe that Fury was given a long count in which 11 seconds rattled off the clock during the referee’s count. So instead of Deontay getting a knockout victory, he wound up eventually losing the fight.
In the first fight with Fury in 2018, Wilder knocked the 6’9″ Gypsy King out cold in the 12th round after nailing him with a devastating right-left combination. Shockingly, the referee gave a count to the unconscious Fury instead of halting the fight on the spot.
You can argue that Deontay should be up 3-0 over Fury in their three fights instead of down 0-2-1.
I mean, when you look at the first and third fights with those two, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that Deontay should have won both of them by knockout.
All those rabbit punches that Fury got away with in their second fight in 2020, it’s fair to say that Wilder should have been given the victory by disqualification.
Deontay to take a spiritual journey
“It’s going to help me navigate my decision-making on what I want to return to the sport,” said Deontay Wilder on the Byron Scott Podcast. “Like I said, boxing has kind of put a bad taste in my mouth because of what it has done to me.
“The politics and cheating of it, the referees,” Wilder continued. “It seems like I fight against the politics, the referees, and the fighters because there are so many guys in boxing that are cheating. I’m thinking about doing Ayahuasca.
“Of course, they don’t want me to say it, but I’m going to say it because it is what it is. I’m risking my life, so I have the right to say. There are so many people that try to go against me in this sport and do things.
“I stand for something and if you don’t stand for something, you’re going to fall for anything. That’s my only thing. What I speak about and what I bring about on my platform, I’m passionate about.
“I know when you take a role in something, there’s always going to be trials and tribulations with your own kind. But I take that responsibility, and I take that pride in holding who I am and what I am.
“There are people that are always looking and they need hope, they need motivation, they need the inspiration to go forth. You can’t keep me down.
“So, I want to take this journey because a lot of tribes allow their younger sons to take this journey,” said Deontay about his spiritual journey. “They say they want their sons to overcome their fears, and this is how they turn them into men.
“So, I definitely want to take this journey and see what I see in it before I make my decision. I still have a love for the sport, as I said, and I still have amazing plans. How you elaborated about after the fight [with Tyson Fury]. I gained more fans than anything.
“It’s crazy that this world is backward,” said Deontay. “When you’re at the top, people envy you and get mad at certain things, and then when they see you fail, now they see the true passion.
“They see the true strength in you and now they want to be a part,” said Deontay.
