Deontay Wilder

Deontay Leshun Wilder (born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He has held the WBC heavyweight title since 2015, and in doing so became the first American world heavyweight champion in nine years, which was the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion. As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 2008 Olympics. This led to his nickname of "The Bronze Bomber", which Wilder coined after Joe Louis, who was known by the nickname of "The Brown Bomber". Wilder is known for having finished all but one of his fights inside the distance; his knockout-to-win ratio is currently 97.3%, with 18 knockouts in the first round. As of June 2017 he is ranked as the world's third best heavyweight by The Ring magazine, behind Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and the fourth best by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec. 2Amateur career Wilder started boxing in October 2005 when he entered Skyy Boxing Gym in Northport, Alabama and began training under Jay Deas. Wilder was 19 at that time. By 2007 he upset the favorites to win both the National Golden Gloves and the US championships at 201 lb (91 kg). At the Golden Gloves he defeated highly touted cadet world champion Isiah Thomas - a southpaw from Detroit - and David Thompson, of Brooklyn, N.Y in the final