Deontay Wilder: “I’ve still got ten years left in boxing. I’m only 40”

Former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder shared his view on age, his motivation to keep fighting, and his psychological recovery after a difficult period. According to the American, turning 40 is far from a career limit if you stay active and disciplined.

“I’ve still got ten more years in me, baby. I’m only 40, man. It’s all about age. People don’t understand that they need to finally get themselves together. Of course age can define you — it can affect your mobility, activity and other things. But that only happens when you allow it. If you stay active, no matter how old you are, you can still move. You’ll still be able to do a lot of things. Problems start when you die inside and let age take over, thinking: ‘Damn, I’m 40, I’m old.’ No, forget that.

Financial security can also be a factor in retiring, but right now I’m ready to keep going. It feels good to know that I’ll never have to come back just for the sake of it. You get me? That means I did my job well. Boxing was never my dream. I didn’t know anything about it at all. I came into boxing only because of my daughter (Naia was born with spina bifida and needed expensive treatment — editor’s note). That’s it. I did what I had to do. But there’s still a lot of work ahead. There’s still plenty of it, and I’ve still got a lot of life to live.

I want to show people something. People want the old Deontay Wilder back, but I’ve got something better for you. Believe me, I’ve got something better. You understand? Forty is a beautiful age. I feel great. I’m very active. Age is just a number. It all depends on how you feel. It’s a mindset thing: people need to realize that and stay active as they get older. You’ve got to stay active. You’ve got to stay in shape. You’ve got to train. I always recommend boxing and swimming to people.

As you age, you have to eat differently. You have to change some things to keep your body healthy, because you’re not young anymore. Your body doesn’t run on a ‘young system’ like before. It’s a mature body now. So at that point, you need to have more knowledge about how to take care of yourself — if you’re willing to look for that knowledge.

I pay attention to those things. So we’ll see. Right now I’m very happy. And not just because of the call-out (from Oleksandr Usyk — editor’s note) and the possibility of a fight. Overall, I’m happy as a person, considering what I went through mentally and where I am now.

Man, I was in a really dark place. But I came back. I’m good now. I can breathe. The hardest thing is going through certain things, especially mentally. Because your mental state controls everything. If you’re not there mentally, it’s over. You’re done. Some people don’t know how to come back after they’ve “checked out” mentally, or when something big happens and the result isn’t what they expected, and the whole world is pressing down on them. Some just hide. And if you’re hiding, you’ve already lost at life.

You can lose a lot of fights in your career, but don’t lose the war in life. Because if you lose that, you’re practically dead,” Wilder said.