Student athletes from Columbus and elsewhere in north Mississippi will soon have an opportunity to meet a heavyweight boxing champion in person.
Deontay Wilder, a Tuscaloosa native and WBC World Heavyweight Champion, has agreed to speak to area youth on March 26, according to Columbus Municipal School District officials.
Those officials, which included two school board members and superintendent Dr. Philip Hickman, met briefly Thursday afternoon at City Hall with Columbus Mayor Robert Smith and a handful of other interested citizens to begin nailing down the details of what they hope will be a unique and inspiring event for youth. The mayor will declare March 26 Deontay Wilder Day in Columbus.
The group now tentatively plans for CMSD to host the heavyweight champ in the middle school gymnasium with a start time around 4:30 p.m. CMSD student athletes will all be invited to attend, and the group is considering inviting student athletes from private and public schools in Lowndes and surrounding counties.
School board member Glenn Lautzenhiser said he hopes the event will have some type of meet-and-greet for the kids, but at the very least he thinks the students will benefit from hearing the story of Wilder’s rise to prominence. Lautzenhiser said one of the more intriguing elements to the champion’s story is that Wilder started his boxing career as a way to make more money to pay for his disabled daughter’s medical expenses.
“We have an opportunity to get him here, and we want to do something especially for the young people,” Lautzenhiser said. “This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for young people.”
At 33-0 with 32 knockouts, Wilder defeated Bermane Stiverne in a unanimous decision to capture the WBC World Heavyweight title on Jan. 17 in Las Vegas. His early career is deeply rooted in Columbus, as Wilder fought his first “verified” fight on March 6, 2009, at the Trotter Convention Center. He defeated Shannon Gray in that fight with a first-round technical knockout.
“For that reason, we kind of claim him as our own,” Lautzenhiser said.
Wilder also trained some at Miller’s Boxing and Taekwondo Gym in Columbus when preparing for his bronze-medal run in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gym owner Oliver Miller went on to help promote Wilder’s 2009 bout at the Trotter, and he is also charged with negotiating with Wilder for the March 26 speaking event.
Miller said Thursday that he is in “hog heaven.”
“Deontay has a good attitude,” Miller said. “He’s not just a Christian, but he’s an activated Christian. He talks the talk and he walks the walk.”
Hickman said he wants Wilder’s visit to instill hope in students that they can achieve their goals despite obstacles.
“As a district, we’re honored and excited to have our kids exposed to someone of this caliber,” Hickman said.
The group will announce official plans for the March 26 visit after they are finalized.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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