Deontay Wilder Gives Americans a Reason to Watch Heavyweight Boxing Again

Deontay Wilder has done something no American boxer has accomplished since 2006: win a heavyweight championship. In defeating Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision Saturday night, Wilder also became the first undefeated American heavyweight champion since Riddick Bowe in 1992.

From Sonny Liston to Mike Tyson, Americans used to own the heavyweight division. The great boxing writer Norman Mailer once wrote in King of the Hill (via The Atlantic's Allen Barra):

"

The closer a heavyweight comes to the championship, the more natural it is for him to be a little bit insane, secretly insane, for the heavyweight champion of the world is either the toughest man in the world or he is not, but there is a real possibility he is. It is like being the big toe of God. You have nothing to measure yourself by.

"

And for decades, the toughest man in the world was an American. It was our civic pride to have the heavyweight champion from our shores.

But as American heavyweight talent started to drop off, so did American interest. The Eastern Europeans (mainly the Klitschko brothers) have dominated the division in the past decade, and maybe it is our Cold War history that averts us from anything our historic rivals dominate.

Wilder changes all of that.

His dominance of Stiverne has secured a foothold for the Americans to rise to the top of the division we lost.

While he might not be on the level of Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson yet, Wilder certainly gives Americans a reason to watch heavyweight boxing once again. He is now undefeated in 33 fights, racking up 32 knockouts in that span.

Wilder has shown he is a brutal finisher who never makes it past the fourth round in previous bouts. This past Saturday, he showcased a different set of skills that demonstrate he is more than a one-trick pony, surpassing four rounds in securing a 120-107, 119-108, 118-109 win. He answered a lot of questions by showing he can take a punch, handle pressure and use his jab.

In his recap after the fight, Al Bernstein said that Wilder winning this way makes him more of an attractive commodity for future fights.

Another reason for Americans to love Wilder is he will bring the work ethic in and out of the ring:

A match against Wladimir Klitschko might be far off, but a fight against Tyson Fury could bring the fireworks that would begin to seal Wilder's place among the top American heavyweights.

He has made it known he wants that fight, per Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian:

"As a fighter I like Fury. He's like me, he's entertaining. Not many guys have it. I'm not pretending to be something I'm not—I'm exciting, I'm funny, I have a lot of charisma. Fury is the same, he likes to entertain the crowd and it's all natural."

The long search for a great American heavyweight is finally over. It's stopped at Deontay Wilder.