Deontay Wilder hasn’t looked as explosive and violent as he once did.
At 40, he looks past his best, but he doesn’t believe that’s true.
“I’m in my prime now,” Wilder to Naji on Cigar Talk.
Wilder still sports that menacing look. Yet, that mind-numbing power he once had hasn’t shown up when he needed it most recently.
In four of his last six, the former WBC heavyweight champion has come up woefully short. His last few appearances have been particularly dreadful.
Joseph Parker won nearly every round against Wilder in December 2023. Roughly six months later, Zhilei Zhang took his pound of flesh, stopping Wilder in the fifth round.
Eventually, the Alabama native got back on track against Tyrrell Herndon. But even with Wilder being viewed as a gigantic favorite, he didn’t exactly blow him out of the water.
Wilder scored two knockdowns before knocking out Herndon in the seventh on June 27.
Now Wilder is in the middle of negotiating a matchup with Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian has seemed adamant about facing Wilder, who was last champion in 2021, in the first half of 2026.
Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) figures to be a massive underdog, but he believes his late start in the sport has helped preserve him despite his advanced age.
“I started boxing very late,” he said. “I started at 21.”
Three of his four losses have come by stoppage, the most recent in 2024.