As Deontay Wilder prepares for his upcoming ring return against Robert Helenius, Wilder talks about the matchup and his mindset for coming back to boxing despite not needing the money. Wilder says he realized how many people he inspires the world over and it struck him then that he must continue on his fighting journey. Check out some of what Wilder had to say below.
“I’ve been knowing Robert Helenius for a very long time,” Wilder said. “He’s been a sparring partner of mines for a very long time so we definitely know each other in the ring. And I love Robert. He got a heart of gold, a warrior mindset and a warrior heart, and when you got a guy with a warrior heart it always makes for a great fight.
“A lot of people think the mind controls everything but it doesn’t. Your heart controls it all because your mind can tell you to give up but your heart says ‘I can’t quit, I’ll die for this’. So his heart is like that and coming from a military background he had to fight for his country on a whole different level. So it builds a lot of determination and he’s got a lot of great work ethic…It’s gonna be a great fight while it lasts, it really is.
“We tried certain different things, gaining weight and all that — at this point in time, especially with this second reign, I’m doing what I want to do. I’m happy, I’m at peace, and we’re doing it our way. Whatever we come with, we want the people to enjoy it. We’re not worried about ‘you got to be this, you got to do that,’ I done proved that many times to be in the position I’m in, where I don’t need the sport, I don’t need the business again. I’m sitting comfortably outside of the business, I make great money outside of the business to where I never have to return to the business.
“So I’m not returning to the business because I’m hurting on the financial reasonings, I’m entering back into the business because so many people need me, for the motivation, for the inspiration — not only just people that look like me, in my skin color, but for people all over the world. And I noticed that when I got a statue, I had people all over the world come to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to be able to celebrate with me and to see grown men come to a lower ground of passion and being able to show emotions in front of everybody and their children and tell their children ‘this is a real king, this what a real king looks like, this is what real greatness looks like.’ I saw that am I’m like ‘man, I can’t stop now. I can’t!’
“I have so many that look up to me, so many that I motivate, so many that look towards me to give guidance for other people’s lives. Most people follow everything I do in my life and try to imitate that for their lives and stuff like that, which I have no problem with because you never know what will work for you until you find something that works for you.