Deontay Leshun Wilder (born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He has held the WBC heavyweight title since 2015, and in doing so became the first American world heavyweight champion in nine years, which was the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion.
Wilder had a late start to boxing, taking up the sport at 20 years of age. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 2008 Olympics. This led to his nickname of "The Bronze Bomber", which Wilder coined after Joe Louis, who was known by the nickname of "The Brown Bomber".
Wilder is particularly known for his formidable punching power, having finished all but two of his fights inside the distance, and has succeeded in knocking out every opponent he has faced, except Tyson Fury. His knockout-to-win ratio stands at 98%, with 20 knockouts in the first round. He is a two-time winner of the Premier Boxing Champions Knockout of the Year award, in 2016 and 2017.
As of November 2019, Wilder is ranked as the world's best active heavyweight by BoxRec, second by The Ring magazine and third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, as well as the world's tenth best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec.