By Craig Daly: Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder posted on Twitter his reaction to his arrest in the early morning hours at 1:14 A.M. on Tuesday in Los Angeles. A pistol [9mm] and marijuana were reportedly found inside Deontay’s vehicle by the LAPD. He was then arrested.
No word yet whether Wilder’s arrest will impact the plans for him to fight Anthony Joshua in December in Saudi Arabia.
If the promotional company putting this event together is strict, they might not be too keen on using Wilder as Joshua’s opponent after this incident.
There’s a lot of money for the 37-year-old Deontay to make fighting the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua and losing out because of his arrest would be a significant blow to his career.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) had this to say on Twitter about the incident: “I’d rather be safe than sorry. The end.”
The 6’7″ Wilder was pulled over due to the windows Rolls Royce being tinted and his license plate obscured. According to TMZ, the arresting officer smelled marijuana and searched Wilder’s vehicle.
“During the stop, cops say they smelled an odor of burnt marijuana coming from his ride — so they searched the car. Our sources say they then found weed and a 9mm in the vehicle, and put Wilder into custody. We’re told the 6-foot-7 fighter was cooperative and nice throughout the whole ordeal,” per TMZ.
I’d rather be safe than sorry. The End 🙏🏿
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) May 2, 2023
If the fight with Joshua goes down in December, Wilder will need to pass the strong drug tests just as AJ will.
Wilder recently defeated his former sparring partner Robert Helenius by a first-round knockout last October in Brooklyn, New York. The win for Wilder snapped his two-fight losing streak in losses to Tyson Fury.
Wilder trimmed down from 238 in his previous fight against Fury in October 2021 to 214 lbs for the Helenius fight, and he looked faster. Wilder changed his fighting style, using a lot of movement and waiting until Helenius presented an opening for him to land his mighty right hand, which knocked him out.
If the Joshua fight does take place in December, there will be a lot of interest from boxing fans on how well AJ holds up to Deontay’s strong right hand. Joshua can punch too, and it’s questionable whether Wilder can stand up to his power.
