{"id":585553,"date":"2026-04-04T19:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/585553\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T19:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:11:14","slug":"deontay-wilder-reveals-how-his-daughters-health-battle-fueled-his-rise-to-boxing-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/585553\/","title":{"rendered":"Deontay Wilder Reveals How His Daughter\u2019s Health Battle Fueled His Rise to Boxing Stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deontay Wilder said that his eldest daughter\u2019s struggle with spina bifida motivated him to pursue boxing. What started as a way to pay for medical bills turned into a career that made him one of the most recognized heavyweight champions of his time. <\/p>\n

Wilder shared his story before his fight with Derek Chisora at London\u2019s O2 Arena on Saturday. He explained that he got into the sport after he became a father, changing his original plans to focus on other sports.<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tDerek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder Ringwalk Time And Prediction For Heavyweight Clash
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

When are the heavyweight legends expected to enter the ring. <\/p>\n

A Late Start Driven by Family<\/p>\n

\"Deontay
\n Mandatory Credit: USAToday Sports<\/p>\n

Wilder, 40, told Boxing Scene that he never intended to become a boxer. According to SportBible\u2019s report of the interview<\/a>, he played several sports and hoped to pursue a path to university before his situation changed. The birth of his daughter Naieya, who was born with spina bifida, forced him to rethink his future and find a way to make money. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat got me into boxing is when I realized that I couldn\u2019t go to university anymore to pursue a career in professional sport,\u201d Wilder said. \u201cI had to rely on the school of hard knocks, you know, that\u2019s whooping people\u2019s behinds. I knew that, as a fighter, I could be a professional and earn money for my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

SportBible, citing the NHS, explained that spina bifida occurs when a baby\u2019s spine and spinal cord do not completely develop in the womb. This can affect walking, continence, bone development, and feeling in the limbs. Wilder recounted a conversation with a friend while he was in college that led him to try boxing. This decision brought him to a local gym where he met trainer Jay Deas, who later became his co-manager.<\/p>\n

Wilder said his goal was clear from the start. \u201cMy only plan coming into boxing was to risk my life to save a life, for a girl who was born with spina bifida,\u201d he said. He added that he promised his daughter as a baby that he would become a champion and support her. \u201cI\u2019ve overachieved that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Promise Made, Promise Kept<\/p>\n

\"Deontay-Wilder-reacts-after-defeating-Dominic-Breazeale\"<\/p>\n

Wilder\u2019s rise in boxing was rapid. SportBible noted that he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then captured the WBC heavyweight title by defeating Bermane Stiverne in January 2015. He successfully defended the title 10 times before losing it to Tyson Fury in 2020.<\/p>\n

An earlier ESPN interview from 2017 showed how closely Wilder linked his career to his daughter\u2019s condition. He mentioned that Naieya underwent multiple surgeries as a baby and continues to live with the effects of spina bifida, but he described her as \u201ca very strong young lady.\u201d He also said his children motivated him to keep stepping into the ring. \u201cThat is why I risk my life each and every time in the ring, to get that much closer to securing their lives forever,\u201d Wilder told ESPN.<\/p>\n

The former champion\u2019s recent record has been inconsistent. After losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, Wilder returned to winning with a victory over Tyrrell Anthony Herndon in June 2025, according to SportBible. However, the story he shared this week focused less on titles and rankings and more on the reason he started boxing in the first place.<\/p>\n

For Wilder, boxing was never just about the belt. According to him, it began with a promise to his daughter, and much of his career stemmed from that moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deontay Wilder said that his eldest daughter\u2019s struggle with spina bifida motivated him to pursue boxing. What started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-585553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}