Deontay Wilder divides his career into two phases.
In Phase 1, he won the WBC heavyweight title by outpointing Bermane Stiverne in 2015 and made 10 successful defenses. That run included nine knockouts and a draw with Tyson Fury, who he meets for a third time on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas.
Phase 2 follows a humbling seventh-round knockout loss to Fury in February of last year that cost him his title and damaged his reputation.
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) blamed the loss in part on challenges leading up to fight but hasn’t explained them in great detail. All we know is that he shed members of his team and others he believes were dragging him down, which included trainer Mark Breland.
Now, with everyone near him on the same page, he claims he’s in a perfect state of mind.
“I’m super focused,” he said on a zoom call Wednesday. “I’m more focused now than I’ve even been in my entire career. This is the second phase of my career. I had fun winning and defending the title for five years.
“At this point, we’re just serious about everything. I’m in a happy place, and I’m glad that I’m here.”
The past several months have had their challenges, including the postponement of the fight after Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) contracted COVID-19.
Wilder expressed frustration over the delay, even questioning whether Fury really came down with the virus. The fact he now will have been out of the ring for almost 20 months was particularly hard to swallow.
However, those feelings didn’t last long. He gave the postponement a positive spin on the zoom call.
“The delay was actually a blessing for me,” he said. “The more they delayed it, the more time we had to work on my craft and art, along with strategically going over the game plan we’re going to have on October 9.
“It was obviously frustrating because I was ready to go. And this is the longest I’ve been out of the ring. There’s something about the ring that calls you and draws you back. But I’ve used the time and benefited tremendously.”
He seems to be sincere when he says he’s never been more prepared for any fight.
“This has hands down been the best training camp I’ve had in my entire career,” he said. “Sometimes you need events to happen in life to bring about changes that you need. We’ve had no distractions, and I’m just in a happy state mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
“You’re looking at a rejuvenated and reinvented Deontay Wilder. The old Deontay is no longer there. I can’t explain it to you, I have to show you on October 9. I’m looking forward to it and I can’t wait.”
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