The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #51 with Deontay Wilder

Episode Date: December 10, 2018

Joe is joined by WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder to discuss his recent fight with Tyson Fury and his history & future in boxing.

right three two one boom and we're live my man what's up baby first of all how the fuck do you punch so hard i've seen a lot of hard punchers man i've been watching boxing since i was a little kid you've got some freakish power man yeah it's weird you got weird power almost definitely uh we always say i'm a freak of nature i definitely got some type of freakish power um i always tell the story that my grandmother said i was anointed by god she was always like if i got suspended for school and stuff she was always like god is trying to use you you're the one you're chosen you know yeah she was very big and you know She was big in spirituality and Christianity. So she used to always be a teacher.

She wasn't really a disciplinary type of woman. She was a teacher. She wanted to teach you, tell you certain things. She used to always say I was annoying. She wouldn't even let my parents whoop me. Not in front of her. That's how serious she were. She's like, don't you better not whoop him.

He's going to be the one to bring you up. He's going to be the one to bring you guys up. Don't whoop him. Somebody tells you something like that at a young age. You might believe it. Did you believe it? Just being so young. We did as children do.

You know, I didn't really think too much about it because I didn't understand what she was saying. You know, I didn't start understanding until you start putting away childish ways and you become a grown man. You start venturing out in life and experiencing life on your own and start seeing certain things. And then even when I got out on my own, you know, I really, there's a lot of things I didn't start understanding until I was 30, you know what I'm saying? Just to, you know, cause certain things, different things were happening in my life, you know, and it's, you know, sometimes you just, you deal with it and you handle it the best way you can handle. But it's certain things that starts to happen.

He was like, my grandma said something about this. You know, it's just, you know. And that's how my life been. But it's amazing how I can come in at 209 and fight a guy that's coming in at 260 and able to drop him like I did. Like, it's crazy. But I've always been stronger than mine, than what I've looked. It's interesting that the Cruiserweight division doesn't get any love i mean the last time i got love was when evander hollyfield was fighting in it yeah that was really the last time people

cared about the cruiserweight division now it's a forgotten division kind of almost yeah yeah that's true you know um you know my brother's just starting in the in the cruiserweight division hopefully he can bring some excitement to it because you're so right. It's almost like they don't even talk about it. It doesn't make any sense because the Light Heavyweight division gets a lot of love. People love watching Light Heavyweight fights.

Always gets lots of attention. But the Cruiserweight division is always like, people look at it like, why are you here? Yeah. Put on some weight. Go up. Yeah, it's true. It's true because the Heavyweights always overshadow those guys.

Did you really weigh 209 the night of the fight? I weighed 209 the night of the fight. That's crazy. When they came in and weighed me, they were like, we just want to get an official weigh-in and see where you are. So I'm all confident. I know I went up from 212. And I get on the scale, and it says 209.

I'm like, what? You mean to tell me I lost three more pounds? You know, I'm like, how did I do that? My manager, you know, he thinks it's come from stress and a lot of other little different things or whatever. The last couple days Right before the fight That allow your body Just

Just overall A lot of stuff was You know A lot of stuff going on He thinks Because of that You know Because your body

The balance of your Your body and All that stuff Like that But I really don't know I really don't really care About weight Because

Majority of my Fighter The majority of fighters that have fought me They've all weighed me like almost all my career, you know, so I Always say I rather be the park didn't look the part Because I've been in many situations where I've seen guys look in the park But then when it's when it get to the nitty-gritty they're not the part. Well, you look the part to don't get it twisted Right. Just you look like a giant Tommy Hearn hearns yeah you know when tommy was in his prime

it's just uh it's what what makes sense though is that you keep that power in the 12th round whereas those bigger heavier guys maybe because the blood's got to push through all that extra muscle and all that extra body tissue maybe they can't keep that power the way you can because in the 12th round first of all i don't know how the fuck he got up i do not understand i remember watching it on tv i'm like wow he knocked him out in the 12th round that is crazy that is crazy and then of course you played that thing on your instagram which basically shows that you did knock him out right i definitely knocked him out he definitely didn't get up in time right Right. He definitely didn't, you know.

But it was his job to just get up at 10. It's not his job to know exactly when 10 seconds is. Correct. Correct. Jack Reese definitely had delays on that count. I've seen the fight like six times. Definitely when he got to eight, you know, eight was a very long delay. Eight.

Then he said, nine. You know. every long delay eight then he said nine you know um like i said nine nine out of ten judges would have waved that off you know easily especially when you've seen a guy eye roll in the back of his head and he and him hitting the canvas and his his his his whole head meat penetrated like like it started getting tight the muscles in his head Getting tight in the back And You know But It's It's so much with that I know how he got up

I didn't understand How he got up either You know God is a good God Well he believed it That's what he believed He believed it Yeah

I mean look He got up man And he got up And he boxed well Yeah he did He recovered You mean you came after him And you hit him With some more big shots.

Yeah. And he kept moving. But then he started getting his legs back under him. And then he started landing. There's also other things as well, too. You know, he's still a gypsy, though. Yeah. You know, they believe in a lot of things.

Yeah. A lot of that, right? Yeah, you never know. You know. It was a fucking phenomenal fight, though, man. It was epic. It was epic. It was amazing to watch

Most definitely I watched it by myself My family was gone They went out for the day So I was like This is great Just me Did you watch it on mute?

No See what I'm saying? The commentators man They was horrible They was horrible I felt they was very biased It was a lot of things They was pointing out

What Fury was doing But not a lot of things What I was doing. It just, even when I knocked down in the ninth round, they had all this to say. But when I knocked down in the ninth round, it was so quiet. And it wasn't even a devastating knockout.

I was getting hit behind the head, but they wanted to call out me hitting him behind the ear. But how many times I got hit behind the head never was revealed. So it was like even just this just this whole you know build up to it you know he sold his story he sold his story to america and you know any comeback sport it did with emotional you know emotions you know right people got emotionally tied to it people a lot of people could relate to his story you know certain

things i could relate to and then you know when know, when you capture, you know, the world and you capture people that get emotionally involved, they want you to win, you know, just because of the story. I want them to win and stuff like that. And the commentators, you know, especially Paulie, especially, got very emotional with it. A lot of other casts as well, too. Just going back, listening to them. I saw the fight six times, you know. I definitely had, you can see a better look on the fight, muting the TV, you know.

Well, I listen to the commentary, but, you know, I do commentary myself for UFC. So a lot of times even if i'm listening i'm not really listening that much i'm just watching watching what's happening it's like i'm having a conversation in a room with a bunch of people right i was watching what was happening what was interesting to me was uh you made adjustments you know and one thing that you made a big adjustment is um when you landed in the 12th round you shorten everything up you shorten that right hand up it wasn't a winging punch at all it came straight down the pipe and then that left hand behind him

and the fucking timing because he was already going down correct you already hit him clean he's going down then that fucking left hook man whoa yeah it was crazy what was really crazy that he got up from because he snapped him around like the exorcist it was nuts when he went flying and then flatlined and laid back i was like it's over i can't believe he knocked him out in the 12 fucking round because all fight i was saying all this guy needs is one punch like you got that scary creepy power and then boom you could say that all day long but if it never lands it doesn't mean anything right but then it landed and the way it landed was like holy shit i told fury i said you're gonna have to be perfect for all 12 rounds i only have to be perfect for a couple of seconds

yeah that's one thing that i did hear the commentators say they said that he's proven that he doesn't have to be perfect because he got hit but i was like but he didn't get hit clean he got hit one time like pretty solid behind the ear but the big one was in the 12th i mean i'm so impressed with both things with you being able to land like that with him being able to get up right that was probably one of the best heavyweight fights i've fucking ever seen it was a lot of pressure on me that night you know i'm just the heavyweight division has has been dead for for a long time and then we started with last year or something just started really just progressing and and people started to talk about it um especially been dead in america i remember a time when no one

knew who who was the heavyweight champion of the world were you know it's the european guys and stuff like that so i always made it my business like i want to bring it back i want to do it like ali did and a lot of the other former champions did where people knew and understand the sport of boxing and who was the champion and stuff like that. I always felt I had that duty to fulfill even when I was in the Olympics because a lot of people don't even know I was in the Olympics. Right. You know, I was the only American to medal in the 2008 Olympics as well. And just from that point, I just felt like I had to be the one to bring it back.

And to come to LA, to bring out all the stars, and like, I got everyone here. And you medaled in the Olympics pretty soon, pretty young in your boxing career from the time you started training. Correct. How long was it until you were fighting in the Olympics? I made the Olympics team in a year and a half. A year and a half of boxing.

I started boxing at 21. You know how fucking crazy that is? I know. So a year and a half of boxing, you make the Olympic team, and you win a bronze medal. Mm-hmm. That's insane. You know, they didn't even have my name written on the list of the one that's going to be on the team. They always say I just came out of nowhere.

Wilder came out of nowhere wilder came out of nowhere yeah you know i remember being in a um in a tournament and um had this elder man you know he's seen these kids like year after year after year and um he i remember him saying hey son who are you i said i'm dionte wilder and And he looked at the guy next to him. He said, Deontay Wilder. You know, where you from? I said, I'm from Alabama. He said, Alabama? He laughed at me. Because they never seen no one from Alabama. You know, we was based off of football and basketball and stuff like that. I was surprised it was a gym in Alabama when I did start. I was like, wow, I can't believe I'm in a boxing that. I didn't even, I was surprised it was a gym in Alabama when I did start, you know, I was like, wow,

like I can't believe like I'm in a boxing gym. I never thought one would be here. We didn't do that. You know, we didn't hear about it, but I started because of my daughter that was born with spina bifida. So, you know,

I couldn't play football or basketball anymore because you had to go to school for that. I needed money right now, you know, so I was looking at a way of making money like right now. And, you know, I had a friend in college. We would always talk about what we want to try to do and what are the things we're trying to do to get to that point.

Because, you know, talk is cheap. We can always say what we want. But if you're not applying any type of action towards what you – with your words, you just – it's just talk you know and he said he thought i should box he thought i should start boxing um i thought it was a great idea as well too he thought he thought i should start but only for the simple fact that i handled myself well streetwise you know nobody ever seen me just lose or get beat up streetwise i was this quiet guy i tell people i never look for

trouble, but trouble always found me for some reason. And when I did release the anger, when I released, even back then it was dramatic. You know what I'm saying? I kid you not, even back then. I believe it. And I could never calm down though at that point. I was like the Hulk. I couldn't calm down. It took me a lot to calm down. Even if I would see blood, I still wouldn't calm down. And it used to be scary for me because, you know, even back then I had power. But I was just, I had a lot of aggression.

I had a lot of anger. For some reason, I never know why, you know. And we thought it was a great idea. Like, you know what, I'm going to do it. You know, I can't lose. What can I lose, you know? And just met up with the guy, went to the gym, you know, up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and I walked in there.

I kid you not, I felt like I heard the bells. I mean, I heard the sounds, the heavenly sounds. Hallelujah. I swear, when I walked up in there, it was just the speed bag and the heavy bag being hit and the conversations and then the guys sparring. And my eyes is everywhere. I'm like, this is it.

I never been in a place like this before ever. You know, it's just, it's like new to me. And I'm like, I felt like this was it. This is my last opportunity to be someone, to be a professional athlete and be able to make money for my daughter i didn't know i came in as a journeyman journeyman that's what i wanted to be i didn't want to you know i didn't know nothing about amateur and i knew about ali and what you know what he did his journey is amateur but i knew that i didn't know the term of of an amateur like what what is it you know saying so walking into the gym my whole mentality was to make money for my daughter.

I like, yo, let me learn just the fundamentals and just stick me out of there. But then we also we had this conversation in the gym about the Olympic trials in the Olympics. So I remember it briefly like we started talking about me and my trainer. Now we start talking about it and then it just became a whole big gym discussion. Everybody stopped doing what they was doing just to get in on this conversation. We didn't know how to get there, but we knew that if we kept winning, that we would eventually get to that point. So I just kept knocking guys out.

I just kept winning, kept winning, and then that's how I got on the Olympics team. And then I told my daughter, you know, I made the Olympics team. I medaled and did all that. And then I turned pro shortly after. And I remember telling my daughter when she was one years old, I said, Daddy's going to be a world champion. He's going to be able to support you beyond your belief. You know, for me, it meant a lot for me to say that to her because I come from a place for unfulfilled promises. You know, you ever had someone promise you something and you wait for years and years,

it don't happen. You know, you still holding on to that promise that they told you, especially being a child, you know, you still like, all right, you know, until it just don't happen no more. Or you see that certain thing that was supposed to have been given is no more there is, is gone, you know? And, um, that really hurted And that really hurt me at times just coming up. That's why I'm a man of my word now. If I tell someone something, you can take it to the bank. It's going to happen. God is an on-time God, so it don't come when we want it, but it's always on time when he's involved.

And when I'm involved, when I say something, I try to make it. I'm a man of my word no matter what I say. So you walk in the gym, you have this feeling, you know this is where you're meant to be. And do you just, how far away is this gym from your house? At that time, this gym, I'm still in Tuscaloosa, North Port, that's about 30, probably about 45 minutes away from where I live. So it's not too far.

Correct. You can get there. And how often are you going there? Every day. Every day. Every day. Immediately. New change of life.

Yeah, you know what? I was still working for Budweiser. I was driving the truck for Budweiser. So at times, you know, anybody working at Budweiser know that you got

a specific time to come in, but you don't have a time where you get off. You know, sometimes you can work from five hours, depending on if you have a bar route, which is the easiest. And then you can have a 17 hour day, which I didn't have before, where you had to go to way deep in the South, way deep in other cities or whatever. I used to have a stop that took me two hours to get there before i even you know um two hours to get there before i even can work my first stop

and you talking about having 17 stops on your on your on your list to do i mean on your to-do list and your first stop is two hours you know i mean that's that was a hell of a ride just to be able it's depressed it it makes you depressed just because you got to wait two hours just to get started. You want to go home as soon as possible. I remember times where I used to drive the big truck to the gym. So you have a big Budweiser truck advertising Bud Light outside of the gym. gym. And you'll see me out there. Used to be times where I used to sleep in my car right there at the gym. You know, I really wanted to get it. I told my daughter that I would be a world champion. And I was devoted

to this sport, which I'm still in to this day. But it was a lot of sacrifices I had to sacrifice for my daughter to really just be here, to be able to support her with Spina Bifida because I knew nothing about the disorder. I'm 19 years old, you know.

I'm just trying to, a father, a loving father just trying to support his daughter. That's amazing. Yeah. It's an amazing story. That's a different kind of motivation. Man, then being in Alabama, we had to scrape up money to go to other states because we didn't really have too many heavyweights here. So we had to go find sparring elsewhere.

My trainer tells the story to this day, how we had to scrape up. Because you get a lot of people who want to come apart, be a part now, whatever. He always said, when we were scraping up the chains, we had to scrape up money for gas and something to eat and stuff, which is all true.

We all had to scrape it up. Now, did anybody ever teach you to punch before you started boxing? Did you ever have an uncle that held pads for you or anything? No, nothing. I didn't know nothing about boxing. You definitely knew how to punch people. Of course, for sure, for sure, for sure. But how did you learn?

Did you learn just from watching TV? Just life, streetwise. You know what I mean? I mean, the best thing in life is experiencing it for yourself. Life teaches you everything. Sometimes you can get knowledge from books, but it's nothing like real life, real reality. So are you with the same trainer that you were when you first started? I'm one of the few.

Wow. I'm still with the same one. you were when you first started? I'm one of the few. Wow. Still with the same one. That's amazing, too. Yeah. So how long did it take before it started feeling right to you, like in terms of like throwing combinations and moving? It took a while. It took a while because I had to, in the Olympics, I had to play catch-up.

I always was playing catch-up. These guys, they've been boxing ever since they was young, little boys and stuff. And, you know, that's how I learned really about boxing and how it would take your life away from you. You know, I'm looking at these young guys. They coming up and some of them cannot go to school because of boxing. You know, some of them, they would tell me how they've missed birthdays. They've missed holidays.

They've missed classes from school just to fulfill their dreams. You know, it could take, it'll take everything away from you. Now, I've seen some have graduate high school, you know, and that's a great accomplishment. When you're in boxing to graduate high school, you know, because there's so much, there's so many tournaments and so many different things. Because boxing is a year-round sport, you know what I mean? So it's so many different things that will go on that these kids, you know, these guys will try to, you know, make this team, make that team, go to this trip, go to that trip just to get their spirits.

And I'm listening to them tell their story. And here I am, you know, just coming from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, just picking it up, playing catch-up. I'm listening to everyone's story and where they come from and how they do this. And I'm studying them on certain things. Like, it was amazing to be able to just go to the Olympics and just do what I did and compete with these guys. I was the least experienced guy in the whole tournament. Of course. Of the Olympics. How could you not be? A year and a half in, you're probably the least experienced guy in the whole tournament of course the olympics you know how could you not be a year and a half and you're probably the least experienced guy to

ever medal ever yeah probably so who the fuck else has even come close to that i bet if you went over the olympic records of guys who have boxed and medaled i bet you're number one with a bullet yeah probably so it's not even anything close that's crazy a year and a half in it was yeah it was it was amazing experience just to be there, you know what I mean? Yeah. If it wasn't for boxing, I probably would have never been able to travel outside the country, you know? Yeah. Boxing showed me everything, you know?

Well, what's amazing is one of the things that you said, that the heavyweight division, which has always been the glamour division, right? When Tyson was the champ and Holyfield was the champ and all these different fighters, the Holyfield, Riddick Bowe era. I mean, these were gigantic fights. I mean, everybody in the world was watching. It was a big deal. But then when Klitschko won, I remember I was on a plane with a buddy of mine who's a comedian

and I said, you know who that is? And he goes, no. I go, that's the heavyweight champion of the world. He goes, get the fuck out of here. He goes, it's a white guy? I go, isn't that crazy? I go, it's a white guy from Russia and nobody knows who it is because

it was a weird thing it's like everybody been the tommy morrison days people there's always the great white hope dudes always wanted a white guy to be the heavyweight champion jerry cooney he's gonna beat larry holmes larry holmes beat the fuck out of jerry cooney i remember i was in high school when that happened everybody was hoping that a white guy was gonna win and then when a white guy finally won nobody gave a shit because he was kind of, he's got a very effective style, but it's, you know,

it's not the most fan friendly. He would jab and grab, you know, we grab ahold of you and he could knock you out. If he hits you clean, he knocked a lot of guys out and he was a big fucking guy. Right. No one cared.

It was weird. It was weird that cause he was a guy living in Germany and he, you know, he was huge in Germany and speaking Russian and English and everything else. I mean, he's a really smart guy Germany, and he was huge in Germany, and speaking Russian and English and everything else. I mean, he's a really smart guy. Right. Nobody cared.

It was weird. It was fucking weird. I know. I remember. Because boxing was still huge. People were still paying attention to Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao. All the lighter weight classes were still getting all this love. Bernard Hopkins.

People were watching all these fights. Nobody gave a shit about the heavyweight division. It was strange. They said, you know, once you don't have an elite American heavyweight, you know, it dies down. They said, where goes the heavyweight division, so does boxing. Yeah. And it's kind of true in some sense. But if it didn't happen that way, where the heavyweight division died down, a lot of these guys that got a lot of shine wouldn't have gotten no shine.

Because the heavyweight division would have been in full force. Probably. For sure. Well, maybe it would have just made the whole sport bigger. Because, you know, this is a good time now for boxing. There's a lot of really high-level champions. It's a fun time to be a boxing fan to watch. But to look at your record, like when you went into the Wilder fight,

or excuse me, went into the Tyson Fury fight, you went in with 39-0? 39-0. 39-0. 40-0 with 39 KOs. Okay, 40-0 with 39 knockouts. Correct. That's a movie record. Yeah.

That's like a guy fighting someone in Creed, right? Yeah. If you looked at that, that's what it would be. Like, what? like what he's 40 like this is the guy you're fighting yeah he's 40 you know with 39 knockouts what like that would be a movie scene exactly like you would be a bad guy in a movie just designed to fuck people up but the fact that no one you know was was looking at this as this is this was a gigantic cultural moment this wasn't just a big heavyweight fight between two of the tallest guys. And big, tall, but move good. Both of you guys move real good.

I mean, Tyson, for six foot, what is he, nine? Six-nine. Six-nine, 256, and he's bobbing and moving a lot, and he's got that weird herky-jerky style. He's a trip, man. It's very unusual. To have the two of you guys together, in my eyes, this was like a re-emergence of the heavyweight division in pop culture. It's like everybody was finally paying attention to the heavyweight division in boxing.

Like, finally, this was it. And I was like, this is a big fight. This isn't just a big fight between two guys who are undefeated, who are at the top of their game, who, you know know Tyson didn't lose his title he had it and you know they took it away from him but he was still undefeated right so that was a giant cultural moment and when it the fight went down and turned out to be one of the best heavyweight title fights ever I mean fuck it's amazing even just to listen to you you know describing the stuff, I still feel those excitement.

I'm sure. I'm like, wow. Like, it was amazing. It was amazing. You know, I'm just ready for the rematch. Like, if people was excited and enjoyed that, just imagine the rematch, you know. This is going to be amazing as well. Oh, it's going to be incredible.

And it puts Anthony Joshua in a terrible situation. Oh, most definitely. Terrible. He looks awful. Oh, they begging now. He looks terrible. He's going to be amazing as well. Oh, it's going to be incredible. And it puts Anthony Joshua in a terrible situation. Oh, most definitely. Terrible. He looks awful. Oh, they're begging now. He looks terrible. He's going to fight some other guy. No one gives a fuck.

And it's like your titles, whatever titles you got, they're bullshit. Yeah. They don't mean anything. Everybody knows this is where the real title is. I mean, it's a wrap now. Yes. Yes. They're definitely begging now.

He's trying to reach out all of a sudden now his management has been you know trying to reach out to mines as well you know um but he could have had this opportunity he had many opportunities he could have followed louise ortiz yeah he could have followed me he had a chance to follow fury as well like they're playing it safe over on that side of the pond playing it safe but no but you, people want to know who's the best now. You know what I'm saying? Especially after seeing this Fury fight. You know, people want to see who's the best.

Yeah. And I've been trying to show people, you know, who's the best. I always say I'm the best. I'm going to forever say I'm the best until I get defeated. You know, and right now I'm in a candidate for you know fighter of the year and also you know um fight uh um fights of the year I only had it came I came back with Luis Ortiz that was an epic one and it came back with Fury another epic fight and then we're gonna hit the two again that's the thing about you that makes it interesting is that you're

not just a guy who knocks guys out but you're a guy who can take it you're gonna take it and you're a guy who figures out a way to win because there's A lot of guys that when it's going bad, they don't come back. What's going good? They win forever, but when it's going bad, it's hard for them to come back But you figure your way through bad situations and you make adjustments Even even when something is going wrong with my body. Like, I done had seven operations on my arm. You know, it's been many times. Like surgery, you know, just breaking my arm, tearing my bicep, breaking my hand. You know, many times in my fights, I've broken my hands and still fought.

You know, torn my bicep, coming in third-degree burns. You know, all that stuff. Like, I'm a still fought, you know, tore my bicep, come in third degree burns, you know, all that stuff. Like I'm a true warrior. You know, I always think I'm like if I do something like if I break my hand or when I tore my bicep in the ring, my whole mentality change to where that motherfucker had to fall off. That's why I got to keep fighting. I got to keep going. I'm a warrior, you know, and you can never tell, you know, because I still throw it with bad intention.

You know, I'm still, you know, landing and hitting it. Just like with the Chris Areola fight, when I broke my hand and tore my bicep, my team knew I broke my hand, but I didn't mention I tore my bicep because I'm like, why tell them? I don't want no one to panic. I'm not worrying about it. I'm going to keep throwing it. I got to keep it. And Chris was so surprised that I did all these things and was still able to throw it.

It's just the mentality when it comes to comeback. Like my mentality, just overall, it's just I feel I'm the best. And if you're going to come and beat me, you got to come and beat me. This is not going to be easy. That's why most of these guys, when they fight me, they bring their A game. Every last one of them, you know, because they know it's going to be tough. And they also know I have the power to get them out of there, you know. And a lot of guys, you know, they're afraid of that.

Because, I mean, over and over again, like I said, my power lasts from the first through the 12th round. You can never be, like, too comfortable with me because of that. That's big for me to have. I've always sat back and said, I've said the same question to myself, like, damn, you got all this power. Me being the person with it, I felt many times what I felt dangerous. I felt like at times it could be too much power because I get scared of myself at times because I know I got the potential to hurt someone seriously. You know, just dealing with it, just looking back and seeing some of the guys I've knocked out

and seeing the reactions and, you know, I done broke guys' arms. I done broke their eye sockets. I done, you know, put them in seizures. You know, almost killed Spuka in New York. You know, he laid there for a while. You know, I didn't even see him breathing, you know, and so forth and so on. You know, it's been amazing to have so much power, but still trying to understand it as well, too, you know.

In that fight with Fury, I couldn't, like, it was crazy. I couldn't strain my right arm. I felt like something was stopping me from really just throwing it straight into the end for some reason. Like, it was. Was it because you were trying to knock him out so i definitely was trying to knock i was very anxious of knocking him out but it was something that was holding like i couldn't strain it out i kept going back to my

corner why is why you can't throw the right hand it's right there this dude would bend down like right here in slow motion it seemed like to. I've seen this look many times. I've knocked guys out many a time in sparring and in competition that put it right there because you have your temple exposed. And, you know, when you get hit in the temple, it knocks your equilibrium off. You know, your body is not responding like the mind is. And he'll be right there, and it's like I still overloop my punches. I telegraph it.

I'm like, it felt like someone was stopping me or something. Like, it was crazy. That's why I said that. Ooh, you know what I mean? I kid you not. I kid you not. You think he put some gypsy magic on you? Man, come on with it.

I understand it. I understand it now. You know, I understand everything. But you have to give some credit to him and his style too, right? Most definitely. I mean, he's a phenomenal boxer. Yes, he is. His style and his movement.

I mean, to see him pull that off and be that fresh, even in the 12th, you had to have that kind of endurance to get up after you knocked him down. Yeah, I definitely take nothing from him. He was a great fighter that night. He definitely brought his best. And that's all you can bring is your best and put on a performance. That's why, you know, when we made this fight happen, because it didn't take long for us to make this fight happen.

He reached out to me and said, you know, I feel embarrassed for what Josh was doing to you. And, you know, I want the fight. Let's make it happen. Let's show the world who's the two best in the business. I'm like, bro, let's make it happen. It was just like that awful conversation. I like the buildup to the fight, too, because both of you were very confident,

and both of you were talking that you were going to beat the other and knock each other out. But at the end of the fight, when it was over, it was nothing but respect. It was nothing but respect. And in this day and age man it's just there's something nice to see about two dudes who just went to war for 12 rounds and it turned out to be a draw and even after all that nothing but respect right most definitely and that's what it's all about you know two guys can be at each other and you know

say we want to hurt each other even to the point you say you want to kill each other you know i mean it's just the build-up it's part of the sport you know um it's up to us to be as professional as possible when it comes to that because we're not gonna really punch each other in the way in so why would we mess up our money when we're trying to support our children right you know um a lot of things that happened in the in the press conferences and stuff was because of others everybody else want to push and shove the ones that don't really matter they're not going to be in the ring everybody want to push and shove so it makes it look worse than what it really is when you got two guys that really that matters that's getting in the ring you know but even you know a lot of people like oh they're smiling at each other they're doing this like that don't mean nothing we still got to get in the ring

at the end of the day and punch each other in the face and and that's the big thing about it he wanted to put on a great performance and support his family as well as I you know especially because it's been in my country I felt like I had the world attention. Now, I've been waiting for this moment for so long. It's like I got to make a great stand. And, you know, that was all the pressure and so anxious. I was anxious to do something that I already does. And that's in fights in devastating fashion. I didn't have to force that.

And I know that if i force it never happens like i want it you know i mean but it was just it's just overwhelming to have the world attention yeah you know how much did it feel than a regular fight it felt uh just it was amazing it was amazing man i swear it was just to come out there and just you know come out and just feel the energy of the people they were so excited just and i was like i already knew who i was certain people was coming because we was you know but it doesn't matter who was there it's just the point of just having the the center of attention i didn't have to fight against no other sport and that like because you know it's hard here in America. It's hard to make it in the world, America. Every time I fought,

I've had to fight against other sports and certain things, you know, and it's always been difficult, especially every fight I've had to promote it by myself because these guys are scared to talk. Or then some of them, you know, with Ortiz,iz you know he spoke spanish although it was a epic fight he spoke spanish and sometime i had to do some of the spanish tv you know for my because they wouldn't do it like it was yeah you know just to get it out you know but with fury i knew i had the right dancing partner well it seems for you that considering how recently you actually started boxing i mean what do you it's what are you 11 years in now how many years 11 years that's fucking crazy like you're just still learning yeah which is insane like you're getting you're getting better i mean as you're the champion you're

getting better right that is uh i mean and a guy like lewis ortiz is an epic dance partner for that yeah because you're dealing with this guy who goes to the Cuban amateur program. He's a southpaw, big motherfucker, you know, good boxer, man. Over 360-something amateur fights. You know, that's a lot. If I had that much experience, you know, you just never know. And he's another one you knocked out late in the fight. Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. I think he had the most difficult style out of fought though. That's far though just being Southpaw You don't really get too much training guys with Southpaw not too and not too many around this heavyweight and and and he's a very slick and Fast counter puncher. That's what he waits on and you know with fight him I really really really had to think about my next move or going in, what I had to do. So, Ortiz, I understand why a lot of these guys don't want to fight Ortiz.

They say he old, but they don't want to go against that old man, though. He's not too old. No, he's not. He's old, but he's not too old. He'll still fuck you up. Come on with it, man. Yeah, he moved not. He's old, but he's not too old. He'll still fuck you up. Come on with it, man. Yeah. He moved his last fight, man.

He looked phenomenal. Yeah. You know what I mean? He just moves good. His jab is outstanding. And he's so well schooled. You know, it's like you see the little stutter feint that he does. He pops that jab on you.

He's always reading you, looking for your reactions. He's a beast, man. He is. He is. And I always give him credit for that until your reactions. He's a beast, man. He is. He is. And I always give him credit for that until I see someone just come in and dominate him. Yeah. You know, even with me and him, we had a connection between our daughters, you know, because he's got an ill daughter as well. And as well as I.

And as well as I. That's why when a lot of stuff started coming out with him, you know, saying that he did drugs and not passing the test, the voter test and stuff, all that. I still wanted to fight him. I still wanted to bless him with the opportunity because of his daughter. Because I can relate to him. Just like just like I say, this story with fear reselling, with the mental illness and stuff like how people was emotionally tied like i got emotionally tied to ortiz because he was a father that dealt with a child with a disability as well as i so i know how hard it is to take care of children with disabilities and i know it takes a lot of money you know so yeah i'm always for him you know i've been talking about him ever since that time we fought win lose or draw i would have've been talking about him ever since that time we fought. Win, lose, or draw, I would have still been talking about him

because of the emotional ties that I had with him. I understand him. And when you understand a person, you root for that person, no matter what, no matter whose side you're on or whatever. When a person has something

you feel like it's worse than the next person or you can relate, you know, you want them to win. Yeah. You know. Now, that's beautiful, man. And I think that having a guy like Ortiz as an opponent,

that's one of those fights that I think for a guy like you who doesn't have a lot of amateur experience, when you fight a guy that's that seasoned and you get to see, like, what it looks like. You get to see what it looks like when you're in the ring with a guy who's had just as you said 300 plus amateur fights yeah overall that's a i mean that's an amazing learning opportunity right oh most definitely most definitely and um you know i just just had the confidence that i was i was the best i was no matter what he had i always going with that confident though you know I blocked everything that his accomplishments,

and we knew what we was up against, you know. But, you know, they was calling him the boogie man of the division, and at that point in time, I still needed to prove myself because, you know, people still doubted me. They, you know, been doubting me from the start of my career. And I was like, since nobody don't want to fight him, I want to bless him with this opportunity. So,

these next moves that I made was Tavern 2, then Ortiz, then Fury. Well, this Tavern highlight knockout was one of the most

ridiculous knockouts of all time. When you stand there with your hands down and you step forward and it's like it was a comic book scene. It's like the way

you knocked him out, like I said, about you being a bad guy in a movie, it seemed like you were a bad guy in a boxing movie like it didn't make any sense you were the guy like if i was say if there's someone that was a i was a coach of a good guy and i was sitting ringside and i was watching you do that we'd be like shit yeah i can't i'm gonna tell you man when i stood over him like that i was outside of my body i could see me and him standing there and like i was a third person i can't explain it you know and then when i started throwing the punches like i went back into my body and started welling on them or whatever i

can't i can't explain that wow that feeling there's so many different things that happened that was a big one too because I got shared so much online. Yes. That was the start of it. Millions and millions of people saw that online. They were like, what in the fuck has this guy got in his hands? And that's when they started, who is this guy? Why haven't we heard about this guy before?

He's the champ? Yeah, yeah. That's when people were like, what? It's like everybody's waking up to the heavyweight division all of a sudden. That was so true. And it was the perfect convert. There it is. Play it for the beginning, Jamie all of a sudden. Yeah, it was so true. And it was the perfect conversion. There it is right there. Dude, play it from the beginning, Jamie.

Here it goes. Boom. I mean, come on. You know, straight boxing skills. You know, I got boxing skills. You know, when I first fought him, I showed all that. I stayed disciplined. I didn't abandon the game plan.

You know, and I showed people that I could box. Yeah, and he taught. But that was probably the only time I just really just stayed super disciplined. Not this fight, but the first one. This part right here is ridiculous. And this one right here. I went outside of my body right here. I was standing.

Then I came back. I kid you not. I don't know what the hell was going on with me. That was ridiculous. That was ridiculous. He hit him in the back of the head. No, he didn't. Yeah, he was quite upset.

That's the strangest little concoction he's got on his dreadlocks there. Yeah. Looked like tape. Yeah, that seems like that would get in the way. To keep it up. You know, the Haitians believe in that. Too. That was sweet, too.

And then the referee, get on me, ref. Like, I'm really scared. Now, it would have been funny if the ref would have let go and he rolled to the other corner. You talking about a movie Yeah That would have been But you know That fight right there Was the real start of it

All you know In terms of public perception Exactly Exactly I knew I was really going somewhere With that Especially when it went viral And then coming back

With the RTs Made it Because people It made it That much people, it made it that much more interesting to see what I'm going to do now. Because people tune in now, whether they love me

or hate me, they tune in to see can I knock the next person out at this point in time. Because a lot of people didn't even know I was Olympian. People,

I don't really even get recognized for really being the WBC champion. In other people's eyes, it's just, that motherfucker that'll knock you out. You know what I don't really even get recognized for really being the WBC champion, you know Other people eyes is just that motherfucker that'll knock you out Now the Tyson fight they realize you're the champ I mean, yes, you you're it used to be I mean, obviously the the belts are fragmented because there's a lot of sanctioning organizations But it used to be there was Anthony Joshua and you but But people are not paying attention to Anthony Joshua right now.

It's just like he's literally been forgotten. Most definitely. And that's a great way to put it. He's really been forgotten. He's defended his title since the Klitschko fight how many times? Twice? Maybe three. I'm not sure.

I remember the Parker. Was Parker out there? Yeah, Parker was after Yes Parker Was it the Tackham? Was Tackham before that? I'm not

Well what is interesting is if If this continues You know if you and Tyson have a rematch And then you eventually get to fight Anthony Joshua If you guys fight in Europe I mean you might be able to fill up some giant fucking crazy-ass soccer arena or something. It's going to be crazy. I mean, if you go over to England and fight him there, that would be insane.

Because he's a giant superstar over there. Most definitely. And I definitely would definitely be able to go over there and get an opportunity to go over there. Even if it ain't with Joshua. Even if it was somewhere. I want to expand out there and get an opportunity to go over there, even if it ain't with Joshua, even if it was somewhere. I want to expand out there as well, too. But we'll definitely get a fight with Joshua out there and probably bring 100,000 or plus. The only thing about the UK, a lot of people think that's where the money is, but that's

not true. They got a cap on their money. It ain't like here in America. America always will be the mega of boxing. Anything pertaining to that because the money is here. You know how they sell their pay-per-view and how we sell hours is like day and night. They $20. We go from shit.

The cheapest 50 some own up to $100 and people pay for people. You know, it's fascinating and people think because you see more people equals more dollars. But, you know, and that's, you know, it's a cap. It's a cap. You can only make so much over there. And that's it. If it wasn't that fact, then you'll see more people from America going to the UK to fight.

Right. Well, the casinos in Vegas, they're probably going to want to do this fight next. That's what they want. Because they want all that extra gambling money and restaurant money and show money.

Right. That's where I would likely, I would say it's likely going to wind up. It could be. You know, we've got a lot of places. You know, I wouldn't mind

going back to New York as well. Boxing history. Madison Square Garden. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, you've got so many diverse people there. You know, a lot of people look at travels and stuff like that Garden You know what I mean That's You know You got so many Diverse people there You know

A lot of people Look at travels And stuff like that You know All those be busy And stuff You know People want it still

To be easy Access See Vegas Vegas makes it easy For people Right Because you know The airport is right there

And five minutes away You're on the strip And that's where Most of the people Be at and stuff But you know We'll see when the time comes you know i'm open for any any any place when are you guys talking about a rematch maybe uh

we're looking at april may june somewhere up in there you know and uh we'll see what happens i'm excited though you know he said he's back in the gym. He hit me up. He sent me a video saying how he's back in the gym and stuff like that. And I just hit back, likewise, because it's crazy because his mindset is being back in the gym. And mine is the same way. You know, I've been traveling a lot, talking about this fight. Like, I'm already, you know, in discussion with certain outlets or whatever. It's like we've been boosting up this rematch fight. Like it's almost here.

It's been crazy, though. It's what my career needed as well, too, you know. So I don't mind. I've been from L.A. to New York. I'm just getting from New York. Now I'm back here. And now I'm finna go to my original hometown. I got some things I got to do out there.

Enjoy the holidays. I'm going to go to my original hometown. I got some things I got to do out there. Enjoy the holidays. I'm going to take a vacation with my family. And then once I get back, I'm back into the gym myself. Well, boxing fans, hardcore boxing fans already knew who you are. But this was the breakthrough fight for the general public. This was a breakthrough fight where people know about it now. And the next fight, the rematch, first of all, you couldn't ask

for a better dance partner when it comes to promotion i mean tyson's fantastic on the microphone he's hilarious he's got that great accent it's fun to listen to him talk so you guys promoting this and getting ready for whatever it is april may june whenever it takes place i mean this is going to be probably one of the biggest heavyweight fights if not the biggest of all time oh man i'm just so excited, you know what I mean? Because I can see, I can visualize it now. I couldn't really visualize how big this could become. I knew it was going to be big, but you just don't know how people are.

You know, people are funny. Especially, you know, people always have things to do, you know. You nailed it, that there was nothing else competing with you. There was nothing else there to watch. It was perfect. a perfect storm and then it was in la so the stars came out it was a big deal man it was amazing i'll never forget it you know excuse me like i said i've been waiting for this i've been waiting for that moment for so long you know they don't have this problem in the uk because no matter you know no matter what they love boxing it's their second nature sport they don't have college sports and

professional sports that they had to deal with boxing like i said their second nature sport and you know and you know they don't have as many as people we have here they have like what maybe 66 million something like that uh alab Alabama and Mississippi, they can fit. The U.K. and Alabama and Mississippi combine together. But they can fit the whole state in Texas and still have space. Which over here, we got so much. We got how many colleges and professional sports. And, you know, boxing is like probably the last sport, you know, on the list.

You know, I'm probably, you know, exaggerating with that a sport you know on the list you know i'm probably you know exaggerating with that a little bit but it definitely seemed like that we definitely you know in the back and there's so much to compete with it's so it's so hard here to do it and then when you when you finally get that shine you know that's where it comes from you know when i'm in it when you're in it and you understand it is like how it's so hard it was to get it to get to this point you know down there 11 years like to get to this point and then when you finally get here it's like you're here you know in the big time yeah when you think back when you're driving that Budweiser truck.

I appreciate every job that I had. I appreciate everything that had happened to me in my life. It allowed me to appreciate who I am now. It allowed me to appreciate just the smaller things. It allowed me to just be myself. I'm the type of person that I don't really care about fame. I don't even want to be called the celebrity. You know what I mean? I want to be able to live my life and do what I do.

I want to be able to enjoy just the smallest things of life. I don't want people to take that away from me. You know what I mean? Being able to go to a movie or a grocery store, whatever, spend time with the family. Because I like cooking. I like going to the grocery stores, the fresh market, pick out my fruit and stuff that I want to put in my,

whatever I'm preparing for the night and stuff like that. And I'm a people's person as well, so I don't mind being bothered. But, you know, it can get crazy. I've seen other people get crazy for not getting mad. And they've said it themselves. They wish that they could do certain things, normal things. But people take it to the next level. Get all in your business.

Especially after this fight. I done had to cut some people. I done had to cut some people because their intentions was already wrong. They seen the opportunity and they tried to make moves on me, you know, already. Yeah. You know,

and different things. That's why I said lonely at the top, you know, because you get to the point where you don't know who to trust. You start down everybody around you. You know, I'm an energy person,

so I'm always refreshing the feeling of the energy. Let me see what it feels like. you know what I'm saying? That'll always allow me to meet certain people, to be around certain people. Because if you change your presence, the energy that you display, it will change as well, too. So it changes.

It shifts the way you feel when you're around them. Then all of a sudden you feel like they're looking for angles. They're trying to profit off of you. They're trying to get you to do things. Yes. You know, I'm a strong-minded person i got a lot of strong-minded men around me i always tell people we speak positive we think positive and we surround ourselves by positive you know positive energy you know and then our

results is always positive the only time you ever see me you know acting out i would say if someone come and break that piece you'll never find me and my brothers, you know, out, you know, messing with someone, starting anything. I'm not the one to start anything because I want peace. I don't even want to see a fight outside if it's not in the boxing ring. I'll walk away if I see it on the outside because I feel like they don't know what they're doing. You know what I mean? Then something can happen easily. You see guns being pulled out

nowadays and, you know, any little thing. So I try to stay away from confrontation as much as possible. That's why I thank God that I'm a homebody. You know, if I'm not here,

I'm at home. You know, because they say when you have to find, when you have to, you know, find things to do and you have to leave home all the time, you don't have a at home. Let's say when you have to find things to do, when you have to leave home all the time, you don't have a peaceful home. And I believe in that. I don't understand when it's busy,

you have to work and stuff. That's one thing. But when you just, man, let's go here. Let's get out and do this. See, I don't put myself out there to be a risk for no one. My risk is at home. If something don't happen, then you to be a risk for no one. You know, my risk is at home. If something don't happen, then you know Deontay was at home. You know, I don't put myself out there to have chances after chances where people look down and say, hey, let's do this.

Let's do that to him. Or I try to because I know what I'm capable of doing. You know what I mean? And I like being me. I just like being laid back down to earth, get along with everyone. I'm a of doing. You know what I mean? And I like being me. I just like being laid back, down to earth, get along with everyone. I'm a people's person.

And a lot of people will never know it because they only see the perspective of me in the ring or they see me on YouTube when I'm doing interviews. Yes.

But you're a very mellow guy. Like right now, you're just chill. I'm the coolest. I'm the best. Well, it's got to help too that you train a lot So you know

Yeah relieve the stress Yeah man You must be training constantly Right? Yeah I mean I get my times in You know If I'm not with my family

I love my family You know I love I got some beautiful children I got a beautiful woman And I just I love being around them I love being able To see my children grow

Being able to see them smile, you know, tell me good morning or kiss me just on free will without me having to tell them or ask them to just come up and kiss me and say how much they love me and stuff. It feels good. The only way you want to, if you want to see me cry, deal with kids. It don't even have to be my kids. It can be others as well. I love kids.

It's nothing. It don't even have to be my kids. It can be others as well. I love kids. It's nothing. And what hurts me so bad with kids is that to see some kids have to grow faster than what they normally would have to, you know, have to be an adult fast. Because I think your childhood years are some of your best years of your life because you don't have really no responsibilities. And when you get out into the real world, that's when reality hits. That's when it was like, oh, this is real.

So my heart goes out to a lot of kids. I love children. And they're what keeps me strong in this sport. Do you worry about getting more famous? Do you worry about the consequences? I don't think about getting more famous you know i i know it comes it comes with the territory you know and i and even if people know everything i just want people just you know don't don't don't hold me don't don't look at me as someone that that holds me higher than, you know, people have high expectations for you.

And when you do something, they think, you know, the biggest thing in the world to happen. Right. You know, you can do the same thing as a Ben that work at McDonough does, but because I have the name and he doesn't, then it makes it even more, you know, worse than what he done. You know? Right. I'm like, we all are humans. We are humans.

We're going to make mistakes. We're going to do things. You're probably going to do some things that you're not supposed to do or you get in trouble with doing. It's just part of life. I never make myself seem like I'm better than anyone. I'm the type of guy that I'll talk to a homeless man, and if the conversation lit, we'll go. I'm a people of guy that I'll talk to a homeless man and if the conversation

led, we'll go. I'm a people's person. My mother was a people person. The term is she never met strangers. I never meet strangers because you can never know

by me interacting with a person do I know that person or not because of the how we're interacting with each other and that's just me.

I'm a people's person because you just never know who you may meet and what they can give you, what advice or what you can give them, you know, to make their day better,

you know, or hug or say, man, I love you, man. You know, that's the final things in life. That's what life is all about. It ain't all so much about who you are

and how much money you got because that can be gone tomorrow. You know, it ain't about that. You know, it's about treating people with respect. You treat me with respect, I treat you no matter what you are in life because you're a human being.

And that's what I'm all about. And then as you get more famous, though, you're going to get more. The numbers are just, that's where it gets unmanageable when people start waiting for it. You ever see what it looks like when Manny Pacquiao's training? No. When he was in his prime, especially when he's training in the philippines is it was insane like freddie roach was there with him and you know they would look outside and people be holding their phones up just waiting for him to look outside the window just hundreds of people everywhere he goes and you know he lives in the philippines so it's uh

he's this superstar in this incredibly poor country and he's a really humble guy too but it's it almost seemed i mean he handles it in an amazing way i don't know how that guy does it but he's he's very chill too yeah well he had to have you know he'd have been knocked down and had to be get had to be brought back up you know life life teaches you lessons and and um and god bless you sometime with second chances you know and when you do get the second chance you know how to handle a little bit better than the first time you know hopefully you don't never have to go through nothing um dramatic you know or nothing severe you know to to learn a lesson yeah you know um because he definitely he probably would tell you himself you know there's a lot of things that he was doing that he had to correct

you know i had to get himself right or whatever, because it can take you away. You know, if a person dwells so much, not saying Manny did this, but just talking in general, if a person dwells so much on, you know, being famous and people loving him and knowing him and stuff like that, like it can take their mind away from them. They'll become this type of person. That's when people say, oh, you've changed. You've changed, you know, and then they'll make. I've seen it firsthand. I've seen a person with no money. And then when they get some money, they don't know they changing. Right.

You know, it's just something that's happening. And people will say you changing. They'll be like, no, I'm just, they'll think they just them. You know what I'm saying? Right. But not in reality, you know, slowly but, they're changing and stuff like that. I'm a type of person that I'm not judgmental of people's lives. I'm a type of person that whatever you do in your life, yay, you chose to do that.

I mean, who am I to judge you? I don't judge people because I don't want them to judge me. You know what I mean? I'm a type of person that whatever you get involved with, it's the consequences that you, it's consequences behind your action that you're going to have to face. Whether you do the right thing or the wrong thing, you're going to have to face the consequences behind it. Yeah. And only you're going to have to face it, you know, at the end of the day. And that's why I respect people.

Whatever you do, you know, it's your life. Have fun with your life you know we make mistakes to correct them long we learn from our mistakes then hey we're all human you know now coming to this rematch what would you do differently in this rematch what i would do differently i would i wouldn't abandon the body i heard him twice in the body i should have kept going with the body mark kept telling me to keep going to the body going I hurt him twice in the body. I should have kept going with the body. Mark kept telling me to keep going to the body, going to the head, go to the head, go to the body. And I abandoned that whole thing. I would probably jab more and I'd definitely be more calmer this time around. You know, when you, you know, though, when you, when you fight a guy twice,

you, the first time you get to experience him, the second time y'all kind of know each other a little bit better than the first time. And I really felt Fury brought the best of Fury, but it definitely wasn't the best of Deontay Wilder. And at this point in time, we know what to train for because I don't think he's going to change nothing up. He fought a great game, a great fight. And I don't think there's nothing that could be changed up.

Maybe he'll probably lose a little. If he gets in the gym now, he'll be a little bit lighter for sure. That could mean a little bit lighter on the feet though. You know what I'm saying? But we're definitely going to adjust, make some small adjustments, and I can't wait. It's going to be explosive. Now, when you do a training camp for a big fight like this, how many weeks do you prepare for?

This fight was three months. Three months. And so you start up and start slowly ramping. And who sets your schedule in terms of what you do every day? With camp, my longtime trainer, Jay, he sets up all the sparring partners and stuff. My My long time trainer Jay He sets up like

All the sparring partners And stuff I got strength and conditioning Coach And Different And shelves And stuff like that

So we I got all that under hand I got all that You know Organized So someone prepares all your food They prepare your diet Yeah yeah

For sure For sure That's why I was surprised I came in Such a low weight Even at 212 Because You know in campus stuff you know my mom I got such a high metabolism it just I just never know I don't I don't really

just keep up with my weight I'm not a type of guy that I weigh in all the time or whatever I think because I've got I haven't gotten by with this power for so long it's like you know it's just it's just an image you know I can't gain weight like I don't understand by with this power for so long. It's like, you know, it's just an image, you know. I can't gain weight. Like, I don't understand. You know, I may have to do that blood testing thing and see, like, they got it where you can take your blood and they can do a test and see what types of food would make you gain weight.

And I think I'm going to try that out. But do you want to gain any weight? Yeah, I want to gain a little bit. I always had a goal of being 245 with my 6'7 frame. But do you think that being 245, you might get tired in the later rounds? No, you see, you gain weight and keep your speed. So as you're gaining, you're continuing to work, keep your speed. That's how we always wanted to go at it.

Because we had a lot of guys that, you know, that specialize in bulking and stuff like that, and we didn't want that. I didn't want to bulk up. Right. You know what I mean? I wanted to gain weight and keep the speed, you know, but just as much as I gain weight, as much as I work out, and my metabolism is so high, so it's like I lose weight in my sleep.

How many times did they have you eat in a day? We was eating in my sleep how many times they have you eating a day we was eating about three three times three to four times a day and like what kind of what kind of foods they have any kind of special diet yeah we was eating steak fish and chicken you know a lot of a lot of um low carb sweet potatoes okay you know um we were eating you know i definitely have us with since i'm in the south you know I had to have me some greens and cornbread, you know. We was doing a lot of, let me see. Damn, I'm getting rid of my, I know we had mashed potatoes. We had a lot of Hoppin' Johns.

Hoppin' Johns is like pinto beans's is like Like Pinto beans and rice Together with onions And stuff like that You put up squash Do a lot of spinach We have spinach I was doing a lot of tuna So just whole foods

Very healthy Yeah most definitely Very very healthy food You know I get all my stuff From the whole food Do they have you Supplementing with vitamins Or anything like that

Correct I was using the vitamins And stuff I was using the vitamins I did. I was using the vitamins. I did the vitamins. I did the whole nine with the vitamin thing. They would bring me a kind of holder for the pills and stuff for each day of the week and stuff like that. And still, I wasn't getting with the Ortiz.

I didn't gain. Still, I was like, what the world going on with my body? I don't know what type of freakish body that I have, you know, because I try to put on the weight. We're going to try another method this time. I'm going to actually try to eat every three hours or so like that. I'm going to have my assistant with me and whatever. So he'll bring me protein shakes, you know, and being able to, all right, just eating something.

Right. I want to see what this weight thing will look like, you know. Like I said, this next fight is going to be good. But the problem is you're doing so well. Like, I don't know if I would do shit different. Yeah, I know. It seems like don't fix it if it's not broken in terms of that. I know.

The thing about you is your endurance is so consistent when you're in the 12th round your endurance is very consistent it's not like a lot of big guys they drop off later in the fight and you see them leaning on each other more taking more time in between exchanges you know trying to pace themselves out trying to restore that energy you've got that energy in the 12th round. And part of that might be because you're walking around 212, 215, and you're fighting 209. That might be a real big positive because, obviously, the power is not an issue. Correct. So why else would you want any weight? You know, like I was telling my, you know, some of my, my team want to see it.

Yeah. You know, they want to see certain adjustments or whatever. And they know, they know that I'm only going to do what I want to do. Right. You know, they know they can't make me or force me to do nothing.

But I am a team player though. You know what I'm saying? I am a type of person that if everybody in agreeance on something, no matter how I feel about it, I'm like, all right. Because we're a team. We've always been this way. With my team, I got a great team. We never leave a discussion without agreeing.

We just never do. No matter what it is, we always come to an agreeance on something. And with this situation, I told them, I'm like, all right, I'm going to try. So what do they want? How much do they want you to gain? They haven't said how much. But they want you to put some weight on. Put some weight on.

And this is your strength and conditioning coach? Is this your boxing coach? Management and stuff like that. Yeah, everybody in the grants. So, you know, I could easily say, no, I ain't doing this. It's my power. You know, which I've said before. I was like, well, I really don't need the weight. in the grins so you know i could easily say no i ain't doing this my power you know you know which i've said before i like well i really don't need to wait it's just like what you were just

describing i like i was saying the same thing i mean my i got power and i got true power and um but i just started thinking i'm like i'm a team player as well you know i'm never feel like although i'm the fighter that's going to be in the ring, they're not going to be fighting, but we're a team, though. And I'm a, you know, I'm a team sport. So how much weightlifting? I mean, I'm a team player, you know. They have you doing weightlifting?

What do they have you doing? Yeah, we're going to do weightlifting. Are you doing it for this camp? Most definitely. What kind of stuff? We lift for strength. So we do a lot of stuff lifting for strength. Deadlifts, cleans, that kind of stuff?

All that, the ropes, pull-ups, different things like that. But I'm going to go back to not only lifting for strength but for balance as well too. We used to do a lot of things with the balance ball, lifting weights with the balance ball, and a lot of stuff with the meds ball. I used to have this trainer that I loved. He was amazing. What happened to him? When I had my title

fight, I think he started listening to people. I think he should. He saw a potential. He saw an opportunity where he felt like he could make a lot of money off of me, you know, and it wasn't the case.

It's like we wasn't shortcutting him. He was getting paid the right amount of money. But you know how people don't understand boxing. They think it's more intuitive or you can get more. He tried to get rich off me, really, you know, off of one client. I'm like, bro, it's many of it many's of yous yeah you know i'm saying it's very few of me you know i'm saying and it's like we won i'm like i miss him though i miss him and and but when you when you when you when you when you when you look

at me like a piece of meat and try to benefit more than what really try to do, then, you know, you done crossed me. Like, you can't be trusted. But he had me right. He used to have me right. I love everything he used to do. We still talk about him to this day. We had to move on, though, you know, because we know what his intentions was. And just imagine now, you let him back in, you know,

they may do right, then they may not. You know, you just never know. That is a problem once you have conflict. Once you start having conflict and you continue to have conflict, then it escalates. Yeah. And then people always do think that they're worth more. Yeah. You know.

It's sad, though, because I'm talking about it. He used to have me right. Everything. Oh, man. He used to have me write everything. Oh, man. I just, you know. This is a thing that I think that there's a lot of good trainers out there. Yes, there is.

All you have to do is kind of explain what the guy was doing and how he was setting it up, and you'll find a guy. Especially when you consider all the – I mean, it's not just for boxing, but there's so many guys that do that for pro sports. And now they're adapting to boxing. And MMA is seeing a lot of this as well. You're seeing all these guys who are organizing these programs that, you know, they might have been doing NFL or NBA. Now, instead, they're doing it for boxing.

Correct. For MMA. It's a lot of things that in strength training that we do is a lot of things that we didn't do because, you know, I'm getting away with a lot of things. There's a lot of things in training that I, that we does that a lot of fighter just don't do. You know what I'm saying?

It's like the, you know, most time when I go in, I'm hitting, you know, when I have a camp, it's mostly just Hitting the speed Hitting the mitts

You know Hitting the mitts And going over different things I barely go in Hit speed bad I definitely don't do no jump ropes You know Sometimes hit the heavy bags

You know what I'm saying Because of the power that I have A certain thing We trying to get coordination down And timing You know what I mean Because I know if I hit get coordination down and timing. You know what I mean? Because I know if I hit any man, they're going to sleep. You know what I mean?

We know this. And it's just a lot of things that I just, I didn't do because I'm getting away with it. I still get away with it. You know what I mean? But at this point in time in my career, now we have the world attention. You know, I want a better me. I want a new me. It's a new Deontay coming. You know, I want a better me. I want a new me. It's a new Deontay coming.

You know, and I'm so serious about it. That's why when my team talk about certain things, I'm like, I'm down for it. Let's make it happen. Let's see what happens. We can at least try. That's all. I can get in the benefit of the doubt, although I may feel a certain way because I'm still, I'm the one in there fighting. But, like, again, again, we're a team.

So I at least can give them the benefit of the doubt and put forth an effort into trying. When you're going through a camp, how many days a week are you doing strength and conditioning? Are you running in the mornings? How are you scheduling your workouts? Strength training is three times a week. We go light on sparring days because I got all these big guys in there and stuff.

So I need some strength for sparring. But we go on three times, Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So on sparring days you go light or you go light on sparring? On sparring days we go light with the weights and stuff like that. So that you have energy for sparring. Correct. Right. And then on days where you're not sparring, then you hit it hard. Correct. So somebody organizes all this stuff like that. So that you have energy for sparring. Correct. Right. And then on days where you're not sparring,

then you hit it hard. Correct. So somebody organizes all this stuff for you. Now, when you do strength and conditioning, are you running as well? Strength and conditioning, we don't run. We don't like jogging.

I don't do no jogging. You know, we do everything fast. We want to activate the fast twitch muscles. You know what I'm'm saying we do everything with rapid speed if i'm if i'm doing anything it consists of me moving my feet is sprinting and stuff stuff like that now i wear a uh 45 pound um vest on me as well too and all my exercise and everything that i do to have that extra weight on really everything chin ups everything squats everything everything i used to do that with

this the training i was talking about you know we used to do everything with this do you do plyometrics like that as well not so much we do um every now and again every now and again but we're gonna do a lot of things we're gonna um we're gonna enhance it oh. Like I said, I'm here. I feel like I'm here. And I know just being regular me, just doing things that I normally would do, got me to this point. But now I just feel like I'm on a whole nother level now. I just feel like now it's time to apply the things that need to be really done

and not the things that you know you can do and get away with. Right. You know what I'm saying saying and that's just how i feel at this point in time so come to rematch they will see a new dionte wilder well that is one of the things that's exciting about you like i said is that if you're only been boxing for 11 years i mean you're just starting to really touch your potential you're still putting combinations together you're still putting your footwork with those combinations and learning new moves. I mean, you're not talking about a guy like Luis Ortiz, who's gone through just a gigantic amateur career and professional career, and he knows what he knows, right? Right.

He's not learning, he's maintaining. You're learning. Yeah, most definitely. That's one of the things that's so exciting about you in this stage of your career, emerging as a star. Yeah, most definitely. You know, just to learn. I always said that when there's nothing else to learn,

then I don't want to be in this sport. Yeah. You know, I don't want to be a know-it-all. Do you have an exit strategy? Do you know when you want to get out? My goal is to unify the division, whether it be one champion, one face, one name, be the undisputed, the undefeated,

the unified heavyweight champion of the world. I want to defend that for a couple of years, maybe until I beat all the top guys in the division, even maybe in the second tier. And then once I complete that, I'm done. Like, I'm done. So maybe five more years? I say I have 10 or less, but I'm more on the 10 year. I'm more on the less, lesser of the years than anything.

I just want to accomplish my goal, man. You're 30 now or 31? 33. 33. 33. Yeah. Started at 21. I don't take too much punishment.

You know what I mean? That's it. I always tell, you know, I got a great team outside of boxing. You know, one day I will get that phone call and they will say, Mr. Wilder, you don't have to work no more in your life. You know, I build for generation wealth. This is not just for the moment in time or, you know, just right now what I can do. It's all for my children.

And it will always be for my children. A lot of people can come in with different stories about themselves doing this and that. But when they're dealing with your children, you always want to see them outgrow you. So with that being said, they got a long life to live. And it's up to me to be able to provide for them so they can be able to do what they need to do. I want them to be able to do what they need to do, but definitely not just sit on their ass where they don't want to have to do nothing. I ain't into that business. Man, it's always been hard for me.

You know what I mean? No opportunity has ever really been given. And if it has been an opportunity given, it's a small one. What I had to create an it has been an opportunity given, it's a small one. What I had to create an opportunity inside of an opportunity. It's always been like that for my life. But don't you think that's also part of the reason why you have so much power behind you? Not just physical power, punching power, but determination. Yes.

Because you've had to overcome adversity. You've had to push through. And that gives you that willpower. Most definitely. You hit the nail right on the head. Now, are you a boxing fan outside of your own career? Do you enjoy boxing? I do.

I do. I try to attend as many fights as I can. You know, I definitely have a lot of stuff that goes on. Try to get me out there even more. So, you know, we definitely be working on the outside of boxing. But I definitely enjoy the sport, just seeing other guys. um so you know we definitely be working on the outside of boxing but i'm definitely yeah i definitely enjoy the sport just seeing other guys do you um when you think about yourself as being this heavyweight who is uh you know at the top of the division now and you you look at all these

younger uh lighter weight fighters you know like guys like terence crawford lomachenko all these really fantastic up-and-coming fighters yeah do you. Do you try to apply any of the stuff that they do? No, not necessarily. You know, it's good to look at and stuff like that, but I'm just me. Right. I like my style. And, you know, I never look and see what those guys does and try to apply it to my style.

What about past heavyweights? No past heavyweights either. My ultimate, my all-time, well, my idol is Muhammad Ali. I love Muhammad Ali, not only just what he did in the inside of the ring because he's lost many a time. He could predict certain things, but then sometimes his prediction don't come true. It was basically what he did on the outside. He knew who he were.

He knew what he represented. He knew what he stood for. And that was strong for me because I'm the same way to this day. I know who I am. I know what I represent. I know what I stand for. And that meant a lot to me just to see him, especially in those times and days, to be so strong and just paved the way. You know, just like Jack Johnson paved the way for Muhammad Ali, you know.

And then Muhammad Ali paved the way for us and so forth and so on with all the other great fighters. But, you know, we have tried to add certain moves. You know, Evander Holyfield used to do this. He would step back like a counter punch. He'll try to come in on you and then when he gets you to react,

he'll step back and try to counter punch. We got certain codes that we will, this is like baseball or whatever, we got certain things that we can say,

you know, and then I'll know what they saying just so it won't be like just regular boxing. Right. Do the one-two or stand like this because they'll know what they're saying just so it won't be like just regular boxing. All right, do the one-two or stand like this because they'll understand what you're saying. But if you lose it in terms, like give it nicknames or whatever, we try to do that or whatever. How beneficial would it be for you to work with different people?

I don't know. I don't know. I love my team. I wouldn't say ever not don't know. I love my team. You know what I mean? I wouldn't say ever not have your team. Right. I mean, but I feel like a guy like you, you have so much talent. It would be fascinating to see you just, you know, take a day with Virgil Hill.

Take a day with this guy. Get together with different people. It just seems like you have so much possibility. There's so much. My only thing with it is that with their egos, you know, be able to handle mines. You know, a lot of these trainers have big egos. Not saying that these, you know, not saying that the guys you name have them, just saying in general.

I know what you're saying. You know, I never worked with none of them. But, you know, when the egos come together, when a trainer feel like you need him, you know what I'm i'm saying and stuff like that then that's when things go wrong yeah you know i'm saying because some trainers are like you need me you know they feel like if you don't have them then you know you're not going to be successful you know because i didn't have guys coming you know yeah you know and with because i'm, you know, if if I don't see it that way, you know, I'm saying not saying that not saying that I would not do it, but I will put my input into. I'm not a type of person that just if I see it some way, you see it a certain way.

If I see it some way, then, you know, I'm not going to express it. I'm not the type of person that just going to be quiet and just go along. I'm going to express my opinion. I'm going to tell you, like, no, this is how I see it as well, too. This is why my team is so great. Like, they can see it and I can see it a whole other way, but we put it in together. We kind of make it mix where it can work. Like, all right, I'm trying this, and I can see one thing as well, two in the ring, you know, and we just make it work together.

One of the things is that you don't have any conflict in your team. You know how giant that is? Like how big is the fucking distraction? When you see fighters that aren't getting along with their coaches, aren't getting along with their strength and conditioning trainer or whoever the fuck it is, man, as soon as you have issues with management, you hate your manager, I want to get out of my contract, like that fucks up so many fighters' careers and puts them on the sideline for a long time.

Andre Ward. I know so many. Put him on the sideline for a while. My brother Malik Scott. He was a great fighter, but because of management and stuff like that, he wasted so many years. Yeah, it's very common. It's very common. So that's the beautiful thing about your arrangement.

You seem to have everything in order. Right, most definitely. You know, I got a great team, man. You know, Mark, Jay, you know, I got Cuz. You know, I got a great team of guys, and they understand. You know, Jay never been in a situation like this. You know, my longtimetime trainer i'm the first to come out of alabama to do certain things that i've done so we both have learned on the way

you know especially been in the spotlight where you got mark breland you know two-time welterweight champion olympic 84 olympic gold medalist he talks off it's amazing how i can hear him though like yeah well it's amazing too that you got because Mark, when he was a welterweight, was a phenomenal knockout artist. And similar to you in that he was long and tall. And Mark's always been like a very, like, even-keeled, intelligent guy. You know, so it's really interesting to see him make that transition to a trainer. And with you, I think that's like a perfect fit. Yeah, most definitely, most definitely.

When you can understand him, you know, he talks so soft. But, you know, I've been with him for a very long time. So, like, he can be a thousand people in the audience. I can move your head, do the job. I remember back in the day, man, when Mark was in the Olympics, man. Yeah. I remember watching him fight on ABC Wide World of Sports. I remember when he fought Marlon Starling. I remember

those days. Yeah. You know? He was a great guy. You know, one thing about it is just everybody got positive energy. You know? That's great. That's big for me. It's just like you said, like, when you get management and stuff, you hate them or, you know, don't want to work with them. You know, it'd be...

It'd bring a voice, some type of avoidance in the group, like when you don't want to do something. You love going to train, but because of this certain person, you don't want to be there. You know, it just knock your energy level down. Like I said, I've never dealt with it, but I've had friends that have dealt with it before. I've had my brother, he dealt with it before.

So I've seen it firsthand. You don't have to go to court and can't do nothing. You're on the shelf because of this. I've seen it over and over and over again. The core parts, the craziness. Oh, my goodness. Lawsuits. Yes.

Trying to figure out how you get out of your promotional contract. Sidelines a lot of guys. Yeah, there's a lot of distraction it'll make you not want to train because you'll feel like your career's not going nowhere well it also stagnates guys because that becomes their primary focus instead of just getting better and preparing for the next challenge you're always thinking about this legal issue you're going through exactly yeah you know yeah no you're fortunate in that regard you know most definitely no matter what people, you know, look up on them as. Because a lot of people are like, well, you need another trainer. But the thing about it, you got to look at it.

We done made it thus far. Yeah. No, it's. What other guy in the sport is knocking every guy out, you know? Yeah. It's definitely making them hit the canvas like me, you know, 40 and over 39 KO. That's just not. I know I got power, but it still takes more than that.

You know what I mean? Just you still got to be able to throw the jab and set it up to throw the right hand and throw the hook behind that and stuff like that. I got great trainers, especially in Mark. You know, he's a great trainer. He teaches me his ways to throw the jab in different ways. You know, although when I get in there and I look at it and I take my own judgment, but I also listen to him as well, too. And at this point in time, you know, it's going to be a lot more, you know, listening.

Like, I see certain things. Because one thing I never want to do is if i hear you i see i hear what you're saying but it's not right there at that moment in time and then i start taking what you see and then i wouldn't been get hit in the head or get knocked out now right i just never want to say well i'll listen to you when you you got me put on the ground right still listening to myself and getting put on the ground you know i mean I mean? But, you know, I love my guys. I love my guys, and I can't wait for this. I can't wait for them to get back in the gym.

It's going to be a new me. I can't wait to watch the rematch, man. It was a phenomenal fight, and I really appreciate you coming in here. I'm a big fan. I was a big fan before that fight, and I think the world's a big fan now. So best of luck to you, sir. Thank you so much, brother. Thank you so much. Deontay Wilder, ladies and gentlemen think the world's a big fan now so uh best of luck to you sir thank you so much thank you so much please Deontay Wilder ladies and gentlemen the bronze bomber