The rise and fall of Deontay Wilder: What went wrong after the Fury trilogy?

Deontay Wilder stormed into the heavyweight scene with a single, terrifying weapon - a right hand that could end a fight at any moment. From Olympic bronze to WBC beltholder, he built a fearsome reputation by turning opponents into headlines. But the post-Fury years have seen a different Wilder - one who swings for dramatic comebacks yet finds himself short on timing, mobility and consistency. Once the sport’s most feared knockout artist, he’s now navigating losses, long layoffs and questions about motivation. Fans and pundits ask whether he can reclaim glory.
The trilogy that changed everythingWilder’s rise was meteoric, a knockout machine who captured the WBC title and defended it with authority. Then came Tyson Fury - a matchup that exposed both the limits and the peaks of Wilder’s career. Their three fights were a roller coaster. Wilder’s first meeting with Fury ended with Fury’s shocking upset but also showed Wilder’s raw fire. The rematch took a turn and Fury took control. By their October 2021 rubber match Wilder had been stopped again. It was a moment that marked the end of his long reign at the top and forced a reassessment of what comes next for him.

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After the Fury trilogy , in 2022, he returned to the ring and obliterated Robert Helenius with a first-round knockout. However, Wilder followed with a high-profile fight in Riyadh where Joseph Parker outboxed him across twelve rounds. It was a wide unanimous decision that surprised many. It derailed plans for a marquee showdown with Anthony Joshua.

What went wrong: More than just lost punch powerIn the following years, he suffered another major setback when Zhilei Zhang stopped him in the fifth round, a loss that underlined worries about durability and defensive awareness at this stage of his career. There were discussions about mental reset, changing camps, and unusual explanations from coaching circles - even claims linking psychedelic experiences to Wilder’s mindset. They have fed a narrative of inconsistency and distraction.

Wilder has not bowed out. He returned to action and, in mid-2025, stopped club fighter Tyrrell Herndon in the seventh round - a win that was welcome but uneven, reminding fans that victories now often come against lower-tier opponents while questions about top-level readiness remain. He’s still a draw because his name and his right hand carry weight, but the route back to world-title relevance is narrower and steeper than before.

Also Read: Deontay Wilder's net worth in 2025: How ‘The Bronze Bomber' built his fortune

What we often forget when discussing Wilder is how rare and valuable his peak was: a heavyweight who could change the story of a fight with one punch is a sport’s treasure. However, Wilder’s post-Fury story is part cautionary tale, part work-in-progress. He can still carve a satisfying late chapter - many fighters find second acts - but it will require steady discipline, smarter matchmaking, and tactical updating. The man who once landed those game-ending bombs will need to show he can outthink as well as outpunch his challengers if he wants to turn this fall into a climb back up.