Deontay Wilder set to return to ring on June 27 after year layoff

Former WBC heavyweight titlist aims to revive career vs. Tyrrell Herndon

Dan Rafael

Mar 28, 2025

A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.

Give a gift subscription

Subscribe to the podcast

Follow me on Bluesky

Follow me on Instagram

I am in my 26th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

Give a gift subscription

Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs), 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who is one of the most fearsome punchers in heavyweight history thanks to his calling-card right hand, is 1-4 in his last five bouts, a rut that began with back-to-back knockout losses to Tyson Fury in the second and third bouts of their historic heavyweight title trilogy.

Wilder lost the WBC title to then-lineal champion Fury by seventh-round stoppage in their 2020 rematch and by 11th-round knockout in the third fight, which was the consensus 2021 fight of the year.

Wilder returned from a year layoff in October 2022 and knocked out Robert Helenius in the first round before losing his next two, both on Riyadh Season cards in Saudi Arabia — a lopsided decision to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and a devastating fifth-round knockout to Zhilei Zhang last June.

Following the loss to Zhang, Wilder had surgery on his injured right shoulder and has fully recovered, manager Shelly Finkel told Fight Freaks Unite.

Wilder would like to get back on track and eventually fight fellow former titleholder Anthony Joshua, who is also coming off a knockout loss, in what would probably still be a significant event even if not as big as it would have been a few years ago when they were both undefeated and discussed the match, which at the time would have been a unification fight to determine the undisputed champion.

Herndon (24-5, 15 KOs), 37, of San Antonio, has won three fights in a row against low-level opposition since prospect Richard Torrez Jr., the 2020 U.S. Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist, knocked him out in the second round in October 2023. Herndon has been stopped in four of his five losses.

In the co-feature, light heavyweight Deon Nicholson (21-1, 17 KOs), 34, a Wilder stablemate also from Tuscaloosa, will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-rounder.

A note to subscribers

I sincerely appreciate your readership. If you’re reading, it means you love boxing just like I do. If you’ve been reading you also know the quality and quantity of what I produce. It’s one-stop shopping. Read the newsletters and there is no need to search multiple websites or click a multitude of links to get the latest news, opinion and detailed fight schedule. Everything you need is in one spot and delivered directly to your inbox (or via phone alert if you download for free the superb Substack app). You don’t have to hunt for the news; it comes to you.

I believe that is worth something, so while I will continue providing stories, notes and the schedule for free, I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscription for the most content. A paid subscription is your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism. I am beholden to no network, promoter, manager, sanctioning body or fighter. If you have read my work at all during the past 25 years I’ve covered professional boxing you know that I keep it real and that will not change.

Fight Freaks Unite

Deontay Wilder set to return to ring on June 27 after year layoff

Former WBC heavyweight titlist aims to revive career vs. Tyrrell Herndon

I am in my 26th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and support independent journalism.

A note to subscribers

Discussion about this post