BEIJING – After eight minutes and one final unhappy outcome, the Olympic tournament came to a merciful end for the U.S. boxers Friday afternoon. It wasn’t much of a day for punching, but it was an excellent day for fathering.
Deontay Wilder, a 6-7, 198-pound heavyweight, lost in the semifinals to the world champion, Clemente Russo, of Italy. The score was 7-1, and though Wilder won a bronze medal, the collective performance was the worst by American boxers in Olympic history – a showing that head coach Dan Campbell declined to discuss.
Of the nine U.S. boxers, only Wilder made it to the final four.
For his part, Wilder, an ebullient 22-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who only started boxing three years ago, was happy to discuss everything. He talked about his showing in these Games (“For me to be here, boxing for just three years and getting a medal, it’s unheard of”), and his thoughts about wealth (I don’t think money can make a person happy. Some of the richest people in the world are miserable”).
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Mostly, though, he wanted to talk about Naieya.
Naieya is Wilder’s 3-year-old daughter. She was born with spina bifida, and he says that she is his daily inspiration. He even has her name tattooed over his heart.
“Every time I take my clothes off and put on this USA uniform, I can see who I’m doing it for,” Wilder said. “She’s always in my mind and I can’t wait to see her when it’s over. And she can’t wait to see Daddy.”
Wilder was 19 when he and his girlfriend, Helen Duncan, found out that Helen was pregnant – and that the baby was going to be afflicted with a debilitating spinal-cord condition. A doctor told the couple, “Y’all don’t have to go through with this.” Wilder said he was not having any of that.
“I’m a person who truly believes in God. I brought her into the world and I’m not going to back out on her now. Every person who is brought into the world deserves a chance in life. She may be a doctor or a lawyer herself, someone important in life. You never know. Every child deserves that chance.”
A former junior-college basketball player, Wilder dropped out of school so he could get jobs to help support his daughter. He worked in an automobile plant, and at a Red Lobster. The medical expenses were daunting, Naieya needing multiple surgeries.
She was so tiny when she was born, Wilder said she fit in his hand. She kept defying doctors’ expectations. They said she wouldn’t be able to breathe on her own – and she started breathing on her own. Wilder watched, and how could he not derive strength from it?
In October, 2005, he walked into a gym in Northport, Ala., and became a boxer. Last August, after a mere 21 bouts, he became a U.S. national champion.
Wilder is plenty raw, and showed it against the powerful and savvy Russo. He said all he wants to do is get back in the gym, keep working, make Naieya proud. He couldn’t wait wait to get home to take his daughter to her favorite place – Chuck E. Cheese’s. He got excited just talking about it. He has big plans for the little girl whose name is on his heart, and big plans to provide for her.
“In the future, you will see greatness of me. That’s a guarantee,” Wilder said. “One day you’ll be looking at the heavyweight champion of the world. I’m not Muhammad Ali and I’m not going to predict. But when it happens, I just want you to remember I told you.”
