Deontay Wilder talks ditching the nice guy approach, adding a body to his record and become a SAVAGE again... and he wants to rediscover his fabled power against Zhilei Zhang

Deontay Wilder is abandoning peace and resurrecting the brutality that made him the most feared knockout artist in boxing.

With chilling intent, he tells Mail Sport he is ready to break bones, add a body to his record and unleash the primal force that once sent shivers down the spine of the sport.

‘Being peaceful in the ring, nobody wants to see that because it doesn’t bring excitement,’ he says. ‘But being a savage, being able to say, “I want to knock your head off your shoulders”, that brings excitement and that’s what I am aiming to do.

‘Even talking about that gives people the heebie-jeebies. But no matter what I say and what I intend to do, the people paying to see it are just as guilty as I am. They are coming to watch what I say I want to do.

‘Regardless of what anyone thinks, that savageness, that ruthlessness, that’s what I want to display at this moment in time. I have it in me. It’s a switch that goes on and off. It’s not being created or put on. It’s something that’s inside of me with having extreme power.’

Wilder, 38, is poised to unleash his aggression against Zhilei Zhang on Saturday night. Should the Chinese heavyweight underestimate the Bronze Bomber, he could face a relentless onslaught.

Despite an underwhelming last outing against Joseph Parker, even a glimpse of the old Wilder should be enough to instil fear into Zhang. After all, he has floored the likes of Bermane Stiverne three times in three minutes and delivered a lethal right hand to knock out Dominic Breazeale in just one round.

'I don’t think any other fighter has hit a man and made their body do what I have. You know, at one point in time I hit a man, he seized in the ring. One man, tongue went in the back of his mouth, and if they didn't catch it, he probably would have choked on it.

'I've made mens' eyes go in the back of their heads as if they've had great sex. It's a lot of things that I do that is God given. I'm a one-punch knockout artist, and we've never seen that before. We just seen punches or bunches, but we've never seen somebody to hit you one punch that can end your career. I'm a career ender.'

Wilder’s thudding right hand has caused fear in the past, with the Bronze Bomber recalling how he thought he had killed Artur Szpilka in January 2016 and made Luis Ortiz’s soul ‘leave his body’ in 2019.

When asked how he copes with seeing opponents laid out on the canvas, Wilder said: ‘It depends on our relationship or how things went in the build-up to the fight.

‘If they are talking reckless beforehand, then tough. You signed the contract just like I did. We all know what risk that we’re taking to get in there. But if he seemed like he was a nice guy, then it’s just business.

‘You do have concerns about a person you know, going back to their families. Most of the time when I see a guy, body on the ground, I do care about them. I hope they get up.

‘So when the job is done I convert back into a caring human being. That’s when the switch switches off.’

After more than a year outside of the ring Wilder, who held the WBC belt between 2015 and 2020, returned in December 2023 to face Parker in Saudi Arabia.

But he looked a shell of his former self, Parker comfortably nullifying his vaunted right hand and winning by a wide margin on the judges’ scorecards. 

Lacking his trademark ability to land a fight-changing punch at a moment’s notice, Wilder was outclassed, with many pointing to the drug he had taken in the build-up. 

He preached about being ‘reborn’ and finding peace after trying Ayahuasca, an ancient drink made from leaves with psychoactive properties.

But Wilder is putting that behind him and letting out his savage side in the Queensberry versus Matchroom 5v5 card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

‘I’m bringing the savage Deontay Wilder,’ he adds. ‘It’s a beautiful and exciting thing when you accept the savagery of a person. At the end of the day, this is a gladiator business.

'This is not a nice business. Men and women get hurt all the time. Over 13 fighters die a year. And I want to be the savage that talks about things regarding the subject of this business, then let me. I am only here for a short period of time. Everyone has an expiration date, so enjoy me.

'Enjoy me while I'm here, because when I'm gone, well, you know how the saying is, "You miss the things when it's really gone". And people miss the savagery of me. People miss that wild man that I used to be. They don't want the peace.

'But that's one thing I hate about human beings. You can't please them, because they'll want it one way, but then when they get that, then they want it back the other way.

'They wanted me to be peaceful when I was talking about having a body on my record, then when I became peaceful they said they wanted the savage. That's the only thing that I don't like and I don't understand.

'But to be amongst people that want that want the savage side of me and that are willing to accept me for who I am, it really relights me. 

'It brings that fire and desire back. So that's what I want to display. That's why I feel like I'm back. 

‘I’ve been at home training non-stop. I’ve become a gym rat again and I’m looking forward to officially claim that I’m back.’