Deontay Wilder is seemingly in denial about his inactivity over the last two years being a factor in his fight against former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on December 23rd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) has fought only one round since 2021, beating his old sparring partner Robert Helenius by a first round knockout in 2022.
Has Deontay’s wealth destroyed his ambition?
Living the life of a millionaire that few fans can imagine, Wilder has stayed out of the ring, enjoying his wealth. With a fortune estimated at $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Wilder has chosen not to stay active with his once-promising career, which is understandable.
When you’ve got that kind of dough stowed away in the bank, it’s been hard for the former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay to pull himself away from his lifestyle of being one of the rich & famous.
That’s why some believe Parker has a real shot at defeating Wilder on December 23rd. He’s not made the kind of loot that Deontay has, so he’s hungry and ready to finish off the career of the knockout artist.
Living in a beautiful castle-like mansion, driving fancy cars, and not lacking anything, one can argue that Deontay no longer has the same desire to succeed in boxing as he once did.
The recently turned 38-year-old Wilder doesn’t feel his inactivity will be a problem against Parker (33-3, 23 KOs), who has been facing lesser opposition since his eleventh round knockout loss to Joe Joyce in 2022.
Wilder hasn’t fought a notable fighter since being mugged by Tyson Fury in October 2021, and there are questions about whether his mind is still in the sport.
“We’ve been putting in the work overtime because this has been a short camp, and we knew this was going to be a short camp. You got to stack it [cram-it] in as if it were a full camp,” said Deontay Wilder to iFL TV about his accelerated training for his December 23rd fight against former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Wilder not concerned about ring rust
Will the ring rust play a factor for Deontay? When you’ve only fought one round in two years, Wilder has been a semi-retired fighter, and he’s not going to be able to shake off that kind of rust in a short cram session of a training camp. Few fighters can stay on top when they begin training boxing as a part-time job, as Wilder has.
“It can play a factor, but it depends on how you look at it,” said Wilder, who was told that Parker has fought four times in the last two years while he’s only fought once in a one-round blowout against Robert Helenius.
“Although he’s had three fights, what kind of fighters was that, and what kind of challenge did they bring to him? You can have three easy fights that don’t bring nothing to you. He can have three fights that didn’t elevate him to no level. Did those three fights make him better than he was before, and that is the question,” said Wilder.
Parker’s last three fights in 2023:
– Simon Kean: KO 3
– Faiga Opelu: TKO 1
– Jack Massey: UD 10
Wilder’s questioning of the level of Parker’s opposition suggests that he’s trying to cover up the fact that he’s lost the desire to keep his own career on track.
As Eddie Hearn has pointed out, Deontay would have fought three times in the last two years and made a mountain of money. He sat and waited for a big payday, which he’s getting, thanks to the Saudis, who set it up for him to face Parker and then Anthony Joshua.
