A NEW HOPE By Luke G., Williams
EXCLUSIVE: The full 6,000 word article
online for the first time
Last year Luke G. Williams was given
extensive access to America’s great heavyweight hope Deontay Wilder and the
team surrounding him. As Deontay faces his moment of destiny against Bermane
Stiverne for the WBC Heavyweight Championship on Saturday night, Boxiana brings you Luke’s
full and extensive feature on Deontay’s career so far and the team surrounding
him.
They
say that you can measure the state of professional boxing by the strength and
profile of the heavyweight division. If that’s true, then the sport is
currently on life support. Wladimir Klitschko, in all his robotic glory,
bestrides the division - master of all he surveys, with a series of
increasingly hapless victims having prostrated themselves at his feet.
Klitschko has made noises about trying to extend his reign until the age of 50
but, Eastern Europe and the boxing cognoscenti apart, no one really cares - he
may be a master at winning, as a decade-long unbeaten streak proves; he may
even be a master pugilist, as his incredible determination to maximise his
strengths and neutralise his weaknesses illustrates, but his inability to
engage or excite the casual sports fan or wider public, particularly in
America, has left heavyweight boxing in desperate need of a new face to
re-establish the pre-eminence of the Heavyweight Championship as the most
coveted and valuable honour in sport.
Deontay
Leshun Wilder could be that new face. The saviour. The new hope. The next ‘big
thing’. His professional record as of July 2014 certainly evokes excitement and
infers a propensity for violence; in 31 bouts, Wilder has never been past four
rounds, and every single opponent he has faced has been knocked out, many of
them savagely so, left in a heap with their limbs twitching and bodies
convulsing and contorting in concussive pain. Now that he is on the verge of
challenging for a world title, Wilder is in the unenviable position of carrying
the burden of America’s heavyweight hopes on his broad, tattooed
shoulders. If a charismatic, photogenic and engaging man like Wilder can
become World Heavyweight Champion … if he can buck the recent dominance of
eastern European heavyweights … if he can unify the belts in an exciting style,
sending the top contenders sprawling to the canvas ... then maybe, just maybe, he could
revitalise boxing’s popularity, which has been under siege from a confluence of
factors already too well-rehearsed and discussed to recite again. A series of
‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ aren’t much to hang the future of a sport on, but sometimes
boxing fans have to cling to whatever hope they can find.
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The
Appalachians are a vast series of mountains, ridgelines and valleys, that
stretch a majestic 1,500 miles through the east of North America, from the
island of Newfoundland in the north to the heart of the southern state of
Alabama. The vast swathes of broad and needle-leaf trees that characterise the
flora of much of the region have borne silent witness to centuries of
bloodshed, struggle and violence; from the cultural clashes between the first
European colonists and the native Americans, to the American War of Independence,
American Civil War and the Civil Rights struggle.
Tuscaloosa,
the fifth largest city in the state of Alabama, is located in the foothills of
the Appalachians. Like many towns and cities across America, its history sums
up many of the maddening contradictions of the American dream. It was in
Tuscaloosa, on 11 June 1963, that Governor George Wallace stood in front of the
entrance to the University of Alabama in an attempt to maintain segregation at
the University by blocking the entry and enrolment of black students Vivian
Malone Jones and James Hood. It was also near to the site of the modern-day
city that, in 1540, the Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto was ambushed by
members of the Mobilian tribe, led by one Chief Tuskaloosa, a fearsome warrior
who was said to be so much taller than the Spanish that “he seemed a giant”.
After a bitter and bloody battle lasting nine hours, the Spanish emerged
triumphant, although Chief Tuskaloosa’s bravery was not forgotten, with later
settlers naming the town in his honour, as well as the river that ran through
it, which was termed the ‘Black Warrior’ river, a nod to the meaning of the
chief’s name when translated from Choctaw. Interestingly enough, the Gentleman
of Elvas’ description of chief Tuskaloosa in 1557 pretty neatly summarises the
qualities of a great heavyweight champion: “Full of dignity … tall of person,
muscular lean and symmetrical … Equally feared by his vassals and the
neighbouring nations.”
It
somehow seems appropriate that Tuscaloosa is the birthplace and home of Deontay
Wilder, for the heavyweight division has long been looking for a ‘black
warrior’ to curb the Klitschko brother’s monotonous dominance. After the false
dawns represented by the likes of Michael Grant, Seth Mitchell et al, and given
Wilder’s untested chin and occasionally wild style, many sceptics scoff at the
notion that he is the warrior the sport has been waiting for. But, interviewing
Deontay himself and the team who surround him, a compelling case emerges that
Wilder is the real deal, and that the Heavyweight Championship of the World
isn’t merely his dream, but his destiny.
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Although
Wilder has admitted that he possessed a youthful tendency to get involved in
street scraps, it would be inaccurate to characterise his upbringing as
misspent or dysfunctional, in the way that, say, Mike Tyson’s was. “My
childhood was good,” he confesses, an unusual but refreshing admission to
elicit from a boxer, given how regularly the sport’s participants proudly
parade their stories of a misspent or deprived youth. “I had good teachers
in school who cared; I was taught right from wrong. I learned to
respect people and to expect people to respect me. I learned
to not to be a fool. Alabama is a great place to raise a family; you
can live here and not worry about too much. I still live here and would
recommend it to anyone. I've had opportunities to move but I don't want
to; this is home.”
To paraphrase the classic plot device from Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane,
there was a ‘Rosebud’ moment for Wilder – in other words, a moment that
explains and puts into context everything that he has achieved, strived for and
focused on since. For Wilder, that moment was the birth of his daughter Naieya
on 20 March 2005. X-rays soon after her birth revealed a hole in Naieya’s spine
and she was subsequently diagnosed with the developmental disorder spina
bifida. “Naieya is my inspiration,” Wilder stresses. “After she was born
with spina bifida, the doctors said she wouldn't do this or that but she is now
doing all the things they said she wouldn't. I never would've gotten into
boxing without her.” After Naieya’s birth Wilder, then just 19, was fuelled by
a steely determination to provide for and support his daughter the best he
possibly could. He dropped out of college and was soon driving a beer delivery
truck to earn a living as well as working at a branch of Red Lobster, a seafood
restaurant chain. A sports enthusiast, Wilder had never given a boxing career a
second thought, however desired careers in American football and basketball had
not materialised, so he decided to consider other options. And that’s when he discovered
the Skyy gym.
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It’s
not exactly where you’d expect a top-class heavyweight to be training. To find
the Skyy Gym you need to keep a sharp eye out for the A-n-M ‘Family Food Mart’
on the outskirts of the quiet suburban sprawl of Northport, a small city
adjacent to Tuscaloosa. After taking a sharp left past the ‘A-n-M’ and
negotiating a trio of speed bumps, a long, tan metal building eventually comes
into sight. Within this unprepossessing exterior lurks trainer and Skyy gym
owner Jay Deas; entrepreneurial, passionate and committed, Deas possesses a
youthful air at odds with the grizzled, aged boxing trainer of popular legend.
Deas combines sharp intelligence, honed by his former career as a television
crime reporter and his passion for writing, with affability. He also lives and
breathes boxing, a passion which was originally fed by his brother Tommy. “My brother was
a boxing writer,” Jay recalls. “Even as far back as high school, I grew up with
boxing. In fact, I remember being the only 3rd grader who could tell you
the top 10 in every weight class!”
In 1995 Tommy and Jay opened the Skyy, and he has
never looked back since. “I was a sparring partner for all the guys,” Jay explains.
“I also compiled a video library of some 3,000 to 4,000 fights. I would sell
copies of bouts to managers and promoters including Don King and Butch
Lewis. I was probably the only high schooler talking on the phone to Butch
Lewis! When my brother got out of boxing in 2005 I took over the training
duties.” In a relatively short space of time, Jay has already built a
formidable reputation for himself as an astute and successful trainer with a
keen intellect, being named the Developmental Coach of the Year by the United
States Olympic Committee in 2007. Despite his relative inexperience, he has
already trained 16 fighters who have won an impressive 28 Golden Gloves titles
between them.
“You have to coach to your personality or it will come
off as fake,” Deas replies when asked to define his coaching
philosophy. “Whatever type of person you are needs to come out in your
coaching. Not every coach is right for every boxer. The chemistry has to be
there. You also have to be open to continue learning because you’ll never
know it all. There is always so much to learn. Finally, you have to
be flexible. The training plan can change based on circumstances and you
have to be ready for that and able to adjust.”
Despite
the fact that Joe Louis and Evander Holyfield were born there, Alabama is
hardly renowned as one of the great boxing heartlands. In fact both these
legendary champions only learnt to box after their families left the state for
Detroit, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia respectively. Had it not been for a
fateful occurrence in 2005, it’s likely that Deas would have continued to
plough a successful furrow, doing worthwhile but low-profile work in his home
state, accumulating awards, plaudits and Golden Gloves success, but going
unnoticed on the world stage. However, that one day in 2005 changed everything.
Because on that day Deontay Wilder walked into the Skyy gym – and suddenly it
became possible that the Heavyweight Championship of the World might come to
little old Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And that the champion might be trained by Jay
Deas, the local kid whose fanaticism for boxing had led him to open his own
gym.
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From
the moment he walked into the Skyy gym, Wilder felt at home. Scratch that –
such a description doesn’t do his feelings justice; it’s more accurate to say
that from the moment he walked into the Skyy Gym Wilder felt that he had arrived at a
place which would become inexorably linked with his destiny – and that
destiny was to become World Heavyweight Champion. “I walked in and heard the
speed bag,” he explains, with no sense of exaggeration or hyperbole. “And a
feeling came over me. I just knew I was in the
right place. I had never seen boxing in person and I knew this was
my last resort to become a famous athlete. It was an overwhelming
feeling, I was in love from that first moment.”
Deas
also remembers Wilder’s first visit vividly. “He walked in and I
thought: ‘wow! He's tall!’” he jokes. “He told me he wanted to be a boxer but,
of course, I hear that every day. I showed him a few basics and then left him
alone. I wanted to see what he would do when he thought I wasn't watching and
he actually worked even harder when he didn't know I was watching. That's very
unusual, so I thought I may have something here.”
From first walking into the gym in 2005, Wilder
advanced, inside just three years, to winning the National Golden Gloves, the
National Amateur title, the Olympic trials and a bronze medal at the 2008
Beijing Olympics – all within the space of only 30 amateur bouts. It was an
astonishingly meteoric rise that owed much to Wilder’s natural athleticism,
strength and size, but also to Deas’ ability to install confidence and
technique within his raw charge. Most of all, though, it was a testament to
Wilder’s capacity for, and willingness to engage in, hard work. Indeed, the
subject of Wilder’s work ethic is something Deas returns to again and again:
“Deontay is very athletic and very strong, and he obviously hits hard but
people don't give him enough credit for how hard he works. Nobody wakes up and
decides they want to win an Olympic medal and then just does it. There’s a ton of sweat and
work from the ‘idea’ to the medal ceremony … and he put in that work. He has a great work
ethic.”
Deas cites a couple of telling anecdotal examples to
back up his point. “Once we were in Memphis, which is a four-hour drive from
home, to watch a fight,” he explains. “At this time Deontay was
working for a beer company driving and stocking shelves. We stopped at a
convenience store to get a Pepsi and I saw him get really angry. I wondered
what was wrong and it turned out he was upset that the beer guys didn't stock the
beer correctly! Apparently all the labels on the beer should face forward and
they had neglected to do this, so Deontay re-stocked the cooler! This
wasn't in his town or even his state but to him ‘right is right’ and it
wasn't right, so he made it right! That's Deontay! Another time, the
week after the Olympics, I came to the gym to find Deontay on
his hands and knees re-tiling the bathroom floor. I said: ‘Deontay,
you're the only medal winner for the United States in boxing, you don't have to
do that.” His reply was that it needed doing. I said:
‘Deontay, really you don't have to…’ And he cut me off. It needed doing,
he repeated. So I left him alone and by the end of the day
we had a re-tiled floor!”
As well
as a formidable work ethic, Wilder also possesses another key component in any
sporting champion - seemingly limitless ambition. When asked to assess his own
strengths and weaknesses, his response is instructive: “My strengths? I want to
achieve more than anyone has ever done and I never quit. My
goals are so high the naked eye can't see them! My weakness is not knowing
when to stop, give up or quit … so I guess that’s not a weakness.”
*
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After
winning the Olympic bronze medal, Wilder swiftly turned pro, signing with
Golden Boy promotions and making his professional debut in November 2008 with a
two-round destruction of anonymous trial horse Ethan Cox. Since then, he has
attracted plenty of criticism for the largely limited opposition he has faced.
However, another member of Wilder’s support team, the highly respected Canadian
trainer and expert cutman Russ Anber, makes a valid point concerning Wilder’s
gradual development as a professional. “Simply put I would
have to say that Deontay may be the best heavyweight I have ever seen with the
least amount of experience,” explains Anber, a passionate and relentlessly
enthusiastic figure, who has been in the fight game for over 35 years. “I think
this is the one thing that the armchair experts and media fail to realise; yet
it may be the single most important factor in Deontay becoming champion of the
world. Generally fans and media forget that Deontay’s amateur experience was so
little. He won the Olympic Bronze medal with about 20 fights to his credit.
Compare that to Lennox Lewis, who I worked with as an amateur, and who took
part in two Olympic Games before becoming multiple champion of the world, and
had well over 100 amateur fights. That is a huge difference.
Couple that with the fact that Deontay has knocked out every pro opponent he
has faced and we are still dealing with the same problem. That’s why Deontay
needs to continue to develop and garnish the necessary ring experience if he is
not only going to win the title, but to hold on to it for years to come and
become the dominant champion we all think he can be.”
*
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Wilder
repeats his list of professional ambitions as though they are a mantra: “To be
heavyweight champ of world. Undisputed. Defend the belts, hold
them for a while, retire and go into acting. I have God-given talent. I
was born a leader. I was born to do it. It is inside of me.” It also
doesn’t matter to him who he faces, who he has to beat. “Whoever says they are
the best,” he shrugs. “Whoever has the belts.”
His recent opponents, Audley Harrison, Siarhei Liakhovich, Nicolai Firtha and
Malik Scott, didn’t have “the belts” that Wilder so hungrily covets, but they
did have a somewhat higher pedigree than most of his 27 previous victims. That
pedigree didn’t stop them from being knocked out as well though, as Wilder
advanced his career record to 31 fights and 31 knockouts. For Jay Deas, these
performances also demonstrated Deontay’s continued technical improvements. “Every
fight can be improved upon, but I felt really proud of the Liakhovich fight
because he was patient and picked his shots,” Deas admits. “I also
liked the Audley Harrison fight, which surprises some because he got wild,
but if you watch that fight closely you'll see something we worked on. We
wanted Deontay to get his front foot around southpaw Audley's front foot,
which we felt was closed too far inward, and then throw a left hook /
right hand. If done correctly and in the right position, it should hit
Audley on the right side of his face. Under normal circumstances a
right-hander throwing a right at a southpaw would land the punch in the middle
or the left side of the face. We worked on this specific move and only this
move in the final five minutes before heading to the ring and Deontay
executed it perfectly! Watch the video on youtube and
you'll see Deontay trying to get his foot in the correct position.
Once he hurt him, all bets were off, but at that moment I was very proud
of how he executed just what we worked on.”
Wilder himself is keenly aware of how much he owes his
rapid rise to the team around him which Deas has painstakingly assembled. When
I ask him to pinpoint the most important factor in his career so far he is
adamant it’s “having a great
team … That's the most important thing because with this team I have the
opportunities to do everything I want to in boxing and make a great living.”
It’s
left to Deas to guide me through the personnel who make up the ‘Bomb Squad’,
the team of men who guide Wilder’s career and training. “Here’s
the rundown,” he announces. “Shelly Finkel was involved from the
start. It was me and Shelly as managers. Shelly got out of the game
for a couple of years during which I assumed all managerial
duties. When he returned to boxing we welcomed him
back. Recently Al Haymon [also] came on board. Al has had tremendous
success with his fighters and has a good relationship with
television. The time was right to work with Al and I can tell you first
hand I really like the guy; he's funny and smart, very smart, and I
enjoy talking to him. So the managers are Al, Shelly and me. As
for training, I work with Mark Breland and Russ Anber. Both have input
into Deontay's training; Mark is the lead in the corner and warms Deontay
up; Russ is the best hand wrapper in boxing, even Wlad Klitschko
calls Russ the best he's ever seen. Russ is also our cut man. I’m the
most versatile of the bunch in that I can lead in the corner, wrap, do cuts, so
I’m the utility player, filling in if and where needed. Coach Cuz Hill is
my assistant and also on Team Wilder as camp coordinator. The
chemistry is just what I want; firstly, you’ve got a loud obnoxious
Canadian in Russ. Watch him on youtube at the end of [Dereck] Chisora
versus [Malik] Scott when Russ was with Scott and they stopped the fight
early. It's hilarious; Russ goes nuts. We gave him a lot of
grief over it! Mixed in with that you’ve got a quiet New Yorker, gold medalist
and two-time world champ in Mark who talks in whispers but may be the funniest
guy you'll ever meet, but also has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Plus
there’s me; an Alabama guy who has been with Deontay since day one and knows
him better than anyone, as he does me. Then there’s Cuz Hill who is quiet but
full of youthful energy. So you see, everyone is there for a reason. Egos
are not permitted, it's all about helping Deontay; if that's not your goal,
you've gotta go!”
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I don’t
have the heart to tell Mark Breland this, but as a child, I was a huge fan of
Jamaican-born Lloyd Honeyghan and vividly remember my disappointment when
Breland ended Lloyd’s hopes of a third stint as World Champion with a
devastating six-knockdown, three-round victory against the ‘Ragamuffin’ at
Wembley Arena in 1990. Re-watching this fight on youtube it’s
evident what a skilled boxer Breland was – freakishly tall for a welterweight
at 6’2”, elegant and hard-hitting, with swift hands and a rapier like left jab. With
110 wins in 111 amateur fights, an Olympic Gold medal and two worlds titles,
Breland certainly knows a thing or two about the boxing trader. Impressively,
the now 50-year-old Breland
barely looks any heavier than the welterweight limit of 10 stone 7 pounds that
he used to fight at; with his softly spoken voice and black-rimmed spectacles,
he also possesses a professorial air that forms quite a contrast with the
beautiful destruction his fists once wrought. As Deas claimed, Breland also has
a wicked sense of humour. “Here’s a good story,” he says. “I was in Alabama
training Deontay and it snowed. That never happens in
Alabama! It was only a couple of inches but it shut the whole city
down. I live in New York, so this was nothing to me. Anyway, I was
driving and a policeman pulled me over. He said: ‘you're going too
fast. Don't you see all this snow?’ I said, ‘Man, I'm from
Brooklyn!’ He looked at me, said, ‘have a nice day,’ and walked away! Ha
ha!”
Breland assumes
a more matter of fact tone as takes up the story of his association with
Wilder: “My former manager Shelly Finkel called me and asked me
if I wanted to work with Deontay. He and Jay had been talking. I met Jay
during the Olympic trials in Houston and saw Deontay win the trials. I
think he and Shelly saw that my height and reach for my weight was similar to
what Deontay has for his. So we had a lot in common, me and Deontay. I
thought he had pure raw strength and good leverage on his punches. He could
punch really well. I saw things to correct but they were minor things
that were the result of being a young fighter. He didn't have much
experience so we got right to work.”
When asked to assess Deontay’s strengths, Breland
picks his words carefully, but precisely. “His jab is better than people
think. Good reach. Great power. His left is better than he
gets credit for; everybody sees the right but if you fight Deontay and focus on
the right, you've got a surprise coming with that left! He's dedicated, so he
learns fast. He's actually come along faster than I thought he would at
this point. I knew he'd come along fast but he's done what he's done and
learned what he's learned a little faster than I anticipated. He's gotten out
of some bad habits and there is still a lot to learn. There always
is. If you quit learning you need to quit boxing.”
Understandably,
Breland is a little vague and cagey when assessing what areas Wilder still
needs to work on. “Keeping his hands up, using his jab more, calming
down. Minor things. He has the tools, so just minor things.” He
also echoes Deas’ and Anber’s emphasis on patience and gradual development.
“He's still one of the youngest heavyweights in boxing to be in the top 10.
Most of the top guys are in their 30s and even 40s, but he's just 28 and only
had a handful of amateur fights. He's good now but if he keeps learning and
working hard he'll be off the charts as he goes. He has a ton of potential and
now we're to the point where he's getting the chance to show it. He's still a
few years from his prime! Once he gets used to his length and range it
will be scary.”
Like
the rest of the team, Breland exudes a real sense of joy to be part of the
‘Bomb Squad’: “We have a great team,” he
enthuses. “I'd put our team against anybody's team. I've been a part of a lot
of coaching teams and this is not only the best but my favourite to be
on. We're on the same page; if someone is going to say something we
all know where they're going with it before they say it. We know each
other really well and work hard but have a lot of fun too. I call Jay all
the time and say: ‘when are we going to camp?’”
*
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A vital
part of Deontay Wilder’s boxing education has been his willingness to work as a
sparring partner for more experienced heavyweights, and Jay Deas’ enthusiasm
for him to do so, in order to expand his boxing education. “We try
to bring in the best sparring partners and we still send Deontay to camps to
spar as well,” Deas explains. “He's sparred with Malik Scott, Audley
Harrison, Mike Perez, David Haye, Wlad Klitschko, Kevin Johnson, Tony Thompson,
Tomas Adamek, Owen Beck, Alonzo Butler, Ray Austin, Jameel McCline, Jarrell
Miller, Nate Heaven, Walt Harris, Brian Ezell and so on.”
Wilder himself is also enthusiastic about this
process. “I’ve learned a
lot from each camp, and took something from each camp. World-class
sparring can only help you. You hear people say: ‘why are you working as
a sparring partner when you are unbeaten?’ But Klitschko worked as a sparring
partner for Holyfield when he was an undefeated up-and-comer too. People
that say things like I shouldn't be sparring these guys don't know anything
about boxing. I'm working with people who have been where I want to
go. Working with them you learn, and for me it confirms what I know
already - that I can do this at the top level. It also improves my muscle
memory.”
Wilder’s
training timetable is deliberately flexible, as Deas explains. “His
schedule changes day to day based on what he needs to do to get better. He may
go to strength training, then rest and eat, then work out in the
evening. Or the day may call for him to swim or play basketball before
coming to the gym.” For a heavyweight, maintaining a fine balance between speed
and physical bulk is a fine art and a desire to keep Wilder both strong but
also mobile also underpins his training. “We have a strength coach that we
like,” Deas explains. “This guy, Peter Khourey from Boston, understands we're
not making a bodybuilder, we're making a heavyweight. So Deontay lifts,
stretches, runs hills, swims and plays a lot of basketball which mimics
the ‘stop-go-up-down’ pace of boxing. Roy Jones did the same. A
lot of Europeans play tennis or soccer for the same reason but I don't see
Deontay on the tennis court!”
*
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It’s the responsibility of Cuz
Hill, the youngest member of the ‘Bomb Squad’, to look after many of the
day-to-day specifics and logistics of Wilder’s training. “I'm
there to help Deontay in any way I can,” he stresses. “Whether it be mitt work
or to coordinate the training camp. I want to be helpful and on point at all
times. I don't want Deontay to worry about little things. Little things
can become big things when they aren't taken care of. The water? I
got it. The timer? I got it. Vaseline? Got it. Towel? Got it
and so on. Camp should run like clockwork.”
Hill is
a perfect example of the power of boxing to inspire and create opportunities
for youngsters who might otherwise lack direction. “I never took to
anything like I did to boxing,” he admits. “A friend of mine who was a
boxer got me into it. I started out just learning to box and I loved the workout.
I feel like I got good and the trainers told me I had a real high skill
level. As I learned more about it I just fell in love with it. I
found myself thinking about it all the time and watching fights and youtube
constantly. Even though I had good skills as a boxer a childhood injury to
my head kept me from competing, but I loved it so much I wanted to be part of
it. I decided I wanted to learn to coach so I talked to Jay and he started
working with me. I've been doing it ever since. It’s not easy and
it's a lot of work but I'm there every day all day because I want to make my
name in this game.”
Hill admits that boxing in general, and Deas in
particular, have given him opportunities - for travel, for a career in the
world of professional sport - that he would never otherwise have had. “Jay will
be the first to tell you all he gave me was an opportunity,” he
emphasises. “But it was up to me to do something with it and I never
forget that. I know I'm part of a team that almost every coach in America
and even the World would want to be on. But again, I earned it. It's a blessing
to be in this situation. I never would've thought I'd be traveling the
world with boxing. I had never been on a plane until I started coaching
and now I've been to California, Texas, all over the southeast [of the USA] and
even to England. I love everything about it. The press conferences, the
meals, the hotels, the fight, the dressing room, the coaches’ meetings, the
glove selection, you name it. I love it all and I hope to spend my whole
life in boxing.”
At the
opposite end of the experience scale to Hill, is seasoned veteran Russ Anber,
who still maintains a schoolboy-like enthusiasm for boxing, despite over 35
years in the business. “I got my start with Team Wilder, when Jay Deas was
kind enough to ask me to help him out in the corner when Deontay fought in
Cincinnati a couple of years back,” Anber explains. “We basically hit it off
from the start and I have been part of ‘The Bomb Squad’ ever since.”
Anber is recognised as one of the premier cutmen in
the world, an art which is often underrated and yet so crucial to the outcome
of so many fights. “When I first started in boxing, trainers and cutmen were my
heroes,” he recalls. “I often say that when I was 18, my friends idolised the
great champions or athletes of that era. For me, my heroes had a towel slung
over their shoulder and a cotton swab in their mouth! I was so fortunate to get
my start in the game when the legendary trainers and cutmen dotted the
landscape. My heroes and those I looked up to included guys like Angelo Dundee,
Ray Arcel, Freddie Brown, Eddie Futch, Roger Larivee, George Benton and, of
course, Ralph Citro. I studied and learned from the best the game has ever seen.
I used to watch the difference they made in a corner. I hope that I too can
have the same impact they had.”
Although
on fight night Anber acts as cutman and hand wrapper for what he believes
“might be the most destructive right hand in all of boxing”, his experience and
expertise are also crucial in other areas. “I have numerous
roles in my work with Deontay, but I think the role in which I take the most
pride, is being involved with a great support team made up of Jay, Mark and
Cuz. Between the four of us we have come up with strategies, decisions,
training and aiding in the development of Deontay. In my opinion, we’re four
very different people with contrasting personalities who all have a passion for
what they do and who bring so much to the table.”
There’s little that Anber hasn’t seen in his long
career in boxing, and as such he seems well placed to judge Wilder’s potential.
His assessment chimes with my own gut feeling, after hours spent watching
Wilder’s previous fights, researching his career and getting to know the team
who surround him. “I think that as long as Deontay continues to be willing to
learn and continues to strive to improve himself as a fighter, then the sky is
the limit. The greatest athletes in history, in any sport, have all had one
thing in common. Not only do they have the desire to be the best, they
understand the work that is needed to achieve that greatness. I think the most
relevant comparison right now is Floyd Mayweather. The greatest fighter in the
game today is also the hardest working fighter, and the one who continually
wants to learn. That is true greatness. As long as Deontay keeps those big feet
grounded and continues to use his mind to absorb as much boxing information as
he can, he can become a dominant champion. Deontay is still green as far as
boxing goes. He is nowhere near his prime. If people think he is good now, wait
and see how good he will be once he reaches boxing maturity.”
*
*
*
Those who still doubt Deontay Wilder’s ability to
become World, Heavyweight Champion, or scoff at his achievements thus far,
might do well to consider this: there has already been one against-the-odds
triumph in his family. When his daughter Naieya was diagnosed with spina
bifida, various doctors told Deontay she was destined for life in a wheelchair.
It was a fate and a destiny which he, and she, refused to accept. Nine years
later, Naieya is walking, participating in gymnastics at her school and has
astonished the medical profession with her determination and strength. Like her
father, she’s a fighter, and you should never underestimate or write off a
fighter.
If the
Heavyweight Championship of the World does end up in
quiet old, sleepy old Tuscaloosa, Alabama - 1,800 miles from the glitz and
glamour of boxing’s heartland of Las Vegas - it will serve as the ultimate
vindication of Deontay’s decision, all those years ago, to enter the boxing
ring as a means to support his daughter. It will also vindicate the quiet
determination and obsessive love of the sport embodied by Jay Deas. “It
would mean everything
to me,” Deas admits. “Deontay has a body full of tattoos and I don't have
any, so I told him that when he wins the title I'll get one to
celebrate! It'll be huge because we came from nothing, with no
perks. And we did it brick by brick, day by day.”
And with that, Deas, Deontay and the rest of the team
are back to work. Working - methodically, tirelessly, perhaps even inexorably -
towards their shared goal. And you know what? I wouldn’t bet against them.
Deontay
Wilder faces Bermane Stiverne for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. You can
follow the progress of the fight on twitter @boxianajournal
FURTHER
INFORMATION:
An anthology of new boxing writing Boxiana: Volume 1 is
now available in both paperback and eBook formats. Boxiana editor Luke
G. Williams said: “In a world dominated by 140 character limits and
the 24-hour news cycle, brevity and superficiality have become de
rigueur. Boxiana takes a different approach; by using
long-form journalism to take an in-depth look at boxing’s past, present and
future, we are hoping that Boxiana will become a
vital new voice in sports writing.”
In Volume 1:Trevor Von Eeden, author of graphic novel The Original Johnson, analyses
the significance of Jack Johnson; Mario Mungia tries his hand
at amateur boxing; Ben Williams uncovers his grandfather’s
bare-knuckle career; James Hernandez catches up with Jon
Thaxton; Matthew Ogborn ponders boxers and retirement; rising
light heavyweight Chris Hobbs recounts his life in the
military and the ring; Rowland Stone recalls a heady night in
1992; Corey Quincy attempts to solve the Wladimir Klitschko
conundrum and Luke G. Williams examines the meteoric rise of
Deontay Wilder and the under-rated career of Chris Byrd.
Enquiries / review copies: +44 7958
319765 / lgw007@yahoo.com
Previews of Volume 1 content and
photos for media use are available through the Boxiana blog:
