Deontay Wilder warns that he’s going to whoop former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker’s backside this Saturday when they fight on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card on December 23rd on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Deontay wants to regain the WBC throne that he lost three years ago at the hands of Tyson Fury, and he feels that he’s more seasoned now after everything he’s gone through. Fury used leaning, wrestling, and rabbit punches on a stationary Wilder to knock him off his throne.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) says he feels “fresh & rejuvenated” since he came to Saudi Arabia and has been sparring from 23 to 35 rounds in preparation for his twelve round battle against Parker (33-3, 23 KOs).
Some would argue that Deontay, having only fought one round in the last two years since his loss to Tyson Fury in 2021, should feel fresh. The 38-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder has had a lot of time to rest his body.
It’s important that Wilder win this fight against Parker, as he needs a victory to potentially face Anthony Joshua in a mega-fight on March 9th in Saudi Arabia. Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) is fighting on the same card this Saturday, taking on Otto Wallin in the twelve round main event.
If Joshua & Wilder win, they’ll meet in March for a massive payday. It’s difficult to decide which of the two has a tougher task this Saturday because both guys are facing formidable opponents.
Granted, there are better heavyweights than Wallin & Parker in the division, but those guys are hungry, and they’ll be fighting well above their pay grade, looking to score upsets to set up lucrative rematches to make life-changing money.
Day of Reckoning’ complete card this Saturday night in Riyadh:
– Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin
– Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker
– Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller
– Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur
– Jai Opetaia vs. Ellis Zorro
– Frank Sanchez vs. Junior Fa
– Filip Hrgovic vs. Mark De Mori
– Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Agit Kabayel
Wilder promises to whoop Parker
“They looking past Joseph Parker. Everybody wants me against Anthony Joshua because that’s the biggest fight of the world, and it’s going down, and I can’t wait,” said Deontay Wilder to ESNEWS.
“That’s how strong-minded I am that I’m going to beat Joseph Parker’s a** come December 23rd. The ‘Day of the Reckoning’ is a great title for it because that’s what’s going to happen,” Wilder continued.
Parker, 31, is on a nice three-fight winning streak since his loss to Joe Joyce last year, and he’s been given tips by former Wilder conqueror Tyson Fury on what he must do to win.
Fury only partially revealed what he told Parker, saying that he needs to keep from getting hit in the face by Deontay. It’s likely that Fury told Parker to hold, lean, wrestle, and nail Wilder with rabbit shots to the back of the head because those are the things he used to defeat him.
Of course, even with Fury using those things, he still needed referees that changed the outcome of his three fights with Wilder by not waiving it off when he was knocked unconscious in the first fight and counting in what some felt was a slow manner to give him time to get up in their trilogy match. In the second contest, Fury incapacitated Wilder with a rabbit shot in the third round, and he never recovered.
“Everyone is going to see, and I’m looking forward to it. I woke up today very fresh and rejuvenated,” said Wilder. “The very first couple of days that I was here, my body was worn down and tired but it didn’t keep me from going to the gym. I still went to the gym, trained my a** off, and did 23 rounds.
“I haven’t done fewer than 23 rounds since I started training, and that’s nonstop. No break, no water, or nothing. Straight through. I don’t know no other person that is doing that, and that’s real talk.
“The second day was 28, the third day was 35, and it continued on. Then we did sparring. The sparring was crazy. I started dropping people in sparring,” said Deontay.
It sounds like Wilder is training like a madman for this fight with Parker, and it’s possible that he might be overdoing it with the sparring. When you hear about fighters sparring a lot of rounds on a daily basis, they often put in poor performances, having left their fight in the gym.
“I started doing all kinds of stuff. I left for Vegas and started training. I came back and sparred. They said, ‘What happened? This is a different man.’ I can’t wait; it’s going to be crazy,” said Wilder.
Parker’s chin not granite
“I wouldn’t say that because in his last fight, the one before he got knocked out by ‘The Juggernaut [Joe Joyce],’ so it can’t be that granite, and he ain’t ever been hit by the most powerful man in boxing history, getting hit by me like I’m going to punch you. That’s just what it is,” said Wilder, reacting to being told that Parker has a “granite chin.”
Parker’s chin is clearly not made of granite, and his courage is also a weakness. We saw how timid Parker looked against journeyman Derek Chisora in their two fights, and he fell apart entirely in his losses to Joe Joyce, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
“When the police pull me over, they have five units for backup because they know what’s up. That’s real s***, that’s no lie. The last time I got pulled over, there were five men around me because these are lethal weapons,” said Wilder.
“This is the new me. This is the second half of me. I don’t want people to see me and say, ‘He’s got a different style. He changed.’ No, this is a seasoned Deontay Wilder, like a seasoned salt on my french fries. This is a seasoned Wilder. I want you to understand that.
“Malik [Scott] is a hell of a trainer, but we are seasoned. This is seasoned. This is a beautiful place,” said Wilder about being in Saudi Arabia. “I ride around like a King. They treat me better over here than they do in America.”
