A bronze statue of Tuscaloosa native and WBC World Heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder was unveiled at the city’s Tourism and Sports Bureau. A crowd of fans of the “Bronze Bomber” was on hand to hear from the champion, as well as his longtime manager and trainer Jay Deas, and Mayor Walt Maddox. Wilder made some news during the event by hinting that his fight career may not be over, despite losing his heavyweight title to boxer Tyson Fury.
"I'm looking to resume my career for sure. I sacrificed so much to be in this position in my life, to be able to life my life like I want for the rest of my life,” Wilder told his cheering crowd.
Sculptor Caleb O’Connor has been working on the statue of Deontay Wilder since 2015. That’s the same year the Bronze Bomber first won the WBC heavyweight championship. The artist says Wilder made no changes to the design, although the finished statue reflects the boxer’s new hair style and a beard. O’Connor expects changes to occur to the statue’s right fist, which is Wilder’s signature weapon in the ring. He says the same thing happened to a famous bronze statue of a boar in Florence, Italy..
“And, it’s got a snout that been rubbed through time, rubbed through time, people come by, they rub it, they polish it. And I think the same thing is going to happen ith that right fist. People are going to come by a rub it, and polish it, and they’ll all become part of the art, in that sense.”
Wilder is a native of Tuscaloosa and reportedly holds the distinction of the highest percentage of knockouts of any heavyweight at just over ninety one percent. Wilder also took the bronze medal in boxing during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The Bronze Bomber held the heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, when he lost his championship belt to Tyson Fury.
