Wilder on return: 'I know I’m ready; I know I’m right; I know I’m back'
After surgery, soul searching, former WBC heavyweight titlist ending layoff to face Herndon and looking to resurrect Anthony Joshua fight
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Former WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder isn’t interested in hearing anybody refer to his next fight as a comeback.
As far as the “Bronze Bomber” is concerned he never left boxing and is merely ending a one-year layoff that he said he needed in order to deal with a nagging shoulder problem and to get his mentality right.
There will be skeptics as to why, at age 39 and having earned nine figures, Wilder is fighting again given that he has lost two fights in a row — in completely different ways — in extremely lackluster performances. But he said he is now healthy, in a good state of mind, and still has goals.
“I just had to overcome a lot of different things and here I am,” Wilder told Fight Freaks Unite. “I know I’m ready; I know I’m right; I know I’m back.”
Wilder’s return will come against Tyrrell Herndon in the scheduled 10-round main event of a Global Combat Collective card dubbed “Legacy Reloaded” on Friday (PPV.COM, Integrated Sports PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $24.99) at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
Wilder hopes a victory will pave the way to a fight with Anthony Joshua, which has been talked about for years, and eventually another shot at a world title, even if the odds would seem to be against him.
“I’ve been taking care of a lot of business this past year having some type of understanding what’s been going on with me,” Wilder said in reference to dealing with a shoulder injury but also alluding to his mental health. “Why have I fallen on the short end of the stick in my last couple of outings and different things and I had to find a solution to the problem. At first I didn’t understand what the hell was going on with me and why things were happening until I realized what was going on and why things was happening.”
