Former Heavyweight Champion Declares He Will ‘Bring Back’ The Heavyweight Division

Former Heavyweight Champion Declares He Will ‘Bring Back’ The Heavyweight Division
Image credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

A former long-reigning WBC heavyweight champion has vowed to take the division by storm when he returns this year.

Deontay Wilder is on the verge of making his return to the ring after suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and the hard-hitting Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang.

The 39-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama reigned as the WBC heavyweight champion between 2015 and 2020 before he was defeated by Tyson Fury in their second encounter. Wilder has lost four of his last five bouts but has pledged to bounce back and make one final push towards becoming a world champion for the second time.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ backed himself to be better than ever in his return to boxing, as he claims he is coming for ‘all the belts’.

“I’m coming back for all the belts, you know the heavyweight division I brought it back years ago in 2015 and I’m gonna bring it back again.”

Wilder is set to face countryman Tyrrell Herndon in a non-title showdown on June 27 in Wichita, where he admits he is taking the 37-year-old from Texas ‘seriously’.

“I’m taking him seriously, we’ve got a lot of fights lined up for this year, two for sure but three maybe. It’s going to be a great fight whilst it lasts but this warm up, tune up, I’m taking it serious and once completing the task then we move on into the limelight of the bigger and better fights. This is the tester.”

‘The Bronze Bomber’ has been linked with showdowns against two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua as well as responding to a challenge from Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, although the 39-year-old appears to be focused on the task at hand as he prepares to face Herndon next month.