Deontay Wilder: If I Wasn't Black - I'd Get More U.S. Media Respect
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) is not very happy with the way the media and expert analysts have been treating professional boxers in the United States.
Wilder has traveled to many other countries, and he watches closely at how overseas fighters are embraced by the entire country.
He says it's not the same when it comes to the United States. He believes homegrown boxers are largely ignored by the American press.
The way things are in the current boxing landscape, Wilder believes the American press and expert analysts are aggressively embracing foreign fighters who travel over to the United States to further their careers - while actual American fighters get the shaft.
“The problem with America is we got media downing American fighters, we got analysts and so-called experts downing American fighters, you got former champions that have made their mark in the sport but don’t want to see their legacy passed downing American fighters," Wilder told The Guardian.
“I never understand that, especially as a champion. You should want somebody to come and pass you. You should want someone to keep the sport alive and build it up. Even the champions don’t want their legacy passed because they don’t want to be forgotten, but if you did it right the first time you’ll never be forgotten. Casual fans come into boxing and listen to the so-called experts downing our fighters but praise the foreigners. We adopt the foreigners but down our own. That’s a huge problem. In other countries, they praise their fighters.
“A lot of people don’t want to pull the race card but let’s be real: I’m a realist, I’m a woke realist, I’m not brainwashed at all. I see what’s going on. If I was every other ethnicity, any type of person that’s not a black man, it would be different. If I was any other color but black, it would be different.”