“When I was up in college, I had a friend, and he was the only guy who knew I wasn't going to be able to attend school no more because I had a child on the way. I remember we was right at the lunch table. I was like, 'Man, I should start boxing.' I felt like every fighter that's on TV made a lot of money. I was like, 'You gotta make a lot of money.'”

American professional boxer

Deontay Leshun Wilder is an American professional boxer who held the World Boxing Council heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. He is known for becoming the first American world heavyweight champion since 2007, ending the longest stretch in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion. Wilder rose to prominence through the heavyweight division and built his reputation around that title reign. His career is most closely associated with his run as WBC champion and the place it holds in American boxing history.