“When they throw punches, the breathing, the sparring. The heavy bags being hit. All of that - it was a heavenly sound to me.”

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.