Deontay Wilder was "85 per cent" certain he would retire from boxing after his two defeats to Tyson Fury, before his hometown unveiled a statue in his honour this year.
Wilder had never been beaten in his professional career before his shocking 2020 knockout at the hands of Fury in their rematch for the WBC world heavyweight title. And he was beaten even more brutally in an iconic trilogy bout with the Brit the following year, despite putting up a fantastic fight and dropping his rival twice.
He appeared to be on his way out of the sport after the loss, but has since signed up for a comeback fight with Robert Helenius which takes place next week in New York. Oleksandr Usyk has expressed interest in fighting the American, and there is a real belief that he could get back to world title contention with a couple of big wins.
"I'm back because I represented a statue," Wilder told Morning Kombat. "I'm almost 37-years-young and I'm receiving my flowers. I'm not old, I'm not dead obviously and most of the time that's the time when people receive their flowers. When they're almost out or when they are out. The world then wants to declare their greatness and say how good or how great they were.
"But for me, all of my accomplishments has been set in stone within a statue and it feels amazing to be able to be so young and to have that and still have my mental faculties and my health still in place. I was 85 per cent out, 15 per cent in, and what made me want to continue on doing this is when I was presented that.
"To see so many people all over the world, men and women, how they came and joined hand-in-hand to celebrate with me and my loved ones. To see certain men and women break down in front of me and say that I am an example of greatness, this is what a leader looks like, this is what a king looks like."
Wilder hails from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and is one of the most renowned sports people and public figures to have come from the town. He was honoured with a statue for his achievements, which included 10 successful defences before he was put down by Fury in 2020.
"It made me feel great" he explained. "At first I was selfish because I only did this for my family. I only got into boxing because of my doctor who was born with spina bifida and the numbers of my children started to expand. Getting a statue I had to become selfless and I knew that I motivated and I inspired so many people around the world.
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"I know I didn't get all my credit, it's not even I think, I know I didn't. You know how it is, people love winners, only to a certain extent, then they turn against a winner and want to see them lose. Look at the Dallas Cowboys when they were winning every year, people loved them and then they started hating them.
"That's just how the world is, the world is so backwards. We love something or whatever and the next minute when there's too much going on and they continue to become successful, people want to see success fall. For me, I never got credit in nothing that I've done, nothing.
"Sometimes people think when you obtain failure that's when they want to give you your flowers and they want to do things, but I tell people all the time 'the only way you fail is when you give up in life'. When you quit is the only time you fail and don't make it, it's when you give up.
"But now I hear so many great things, so many different things that people say now that I'm like 'we've been saying this for years, why all of a sudden are you saying this now?' That's not here nor there."
