Frustrated by seeing his last three opponents be forced to pull out of fights due to failed drug tests, an emotional WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder sounded off at Tuesday's teleconference ahead of his Nov. 4 return.
Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) will face late replacement Bermane Stiverne in their rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, after Luis Ortiz was pulled from the fight for testing positive for a banned substance.
"If Bermane Stiverne beats me, I will retire," Wilder said. "I will be out of the way. Boxing ain't got to worry about me because it ain't doing me any good anyway. Nobody wants to fight. All I wanted to is prove that I am the best and the best don't want to fight, so what's the point?
"If Bermane beats me, y'all won't have to hear about me no more. I'm done. It don't get more serious than that, so let the games begin. I may move to MMA or some shit. That's fact."
Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) became the only fighter to take Wilder the distance in their 2015 title bout, which Wilder, who broke his right hand in Round 3, won by decision. Wilder's team originally paid Stiverne, his WBC mandatory opponent, step-aside money to allow the Ortiz fight to take place.
Wilder initially posted a string of emotional videos on social media after Ortiz was pulled from the fight in September, claiming that top opponents weren't willing to face him on even terms. He was just as fired up while explaining himself to the media on Tuesday.
"It's a curse to have so much power," Wilder said. "It's a blessing and a curse because fighters are scared to face me."
Wilder, 32, admitted he has considered walking away from the sport altogether.
"It starts to sicken me and I don't want to feel this way about boxing because I was once in love with it," Wilder said. "It makes me rethink my career. Am I better out of this sport than in it because of the stuff that's going on? Am I that dangerous to other fighters they fear they have to do certain things when it comes to Deontay Wilder?
"All I ever wanted to do is fight the best. It just saddens me with some of the activity going on in this sport."
Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs), who failed a drug test for the second time in three years, was expected to be the career-defining challenge that Wilder's career has lacked amid constant criticisms of his matchmaking. Now, Wilder will enter a rematch he admitted he wasn't looking forward to because there is nothing left to prove against Stiverne.
Upon hearing during the teleconference that Stiverne had mentioned he ate all of Wilder's best shots during their first meeting, the 6-foot-7 native of Alabama went on a wild rant.
"I fight with my heart, I fight with my will! F--- skills!" Wilder said. "The ring is that judge and the people are the jury.
"[Stiverne] say he ate my punches for breakfast? Then I hope he made room for lunch. He said I'm scared of him? Scared is not in my definition. I ain't even scared of death! So why would I be scared of a human being?"
