Deontay Wilder Is The 'Greatest Boxer Of All Time,' Says Muhammad Ali's Ex-Wife

Khalilah Ali has hailed Deontay Wilder as the 'GOAT of boxing' ahead of ex-husband Muhammad Ali and living legend Mike Tyson.

WBC champ Wilder, 34, notched up his 41st knockout victory last Saturday in his rematch with Luis Ortiz at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

And Khalilah, who was married to boxing legend Ali from 1967 to 1977, caught up with the 'Bronze Bomber' after the clash and showered him with praise.

"You are definitely the king of the ring, you don't have to prove anything, just do your thing," she said in a FightHype video.

"I told him, I said, 'Look at that brother, you're in trouble.

"I knew it. I know the greatest when I see it.

"You are the GOAT [greatest of all time], brother. Thank you so much."

Wilder, who defended his WBC championship for the tenth time last week, was troubled in his 2018 clash with Ortiz before securing a TKO victory.

And Cuban star Ortiz outboxed the KO artist for the first six rounds of their rematch, only for his hard work to be undone when Wilder nailed him with a devastating right hand.

Wilder insisted that he is the hardest-punching boxer since Tyson and also boasts a superior KO record than 'Iron Mike' in a side-by-side comparison of their first 42 professional fights.

Boxing legend George Foreman has backed Wilder for being a hard hitter, but he slammed the idea that he is a more ferocious puncher than Tyson.

The 'Bronze Bomber' also called out the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' for not praising him in public.

Wilder will now turn his attention to fierce rival Tyson Fury as the two boxing superstars will clash in their hotly-anticipated rematch in February.

Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum, who is Fury's co-promoter, has said an official announcement for the bout will be made next month.

"We're going to have an announcement before Christmas, but the fight is happening Feb. 22. You can go to sleep on that," he told ESPN.

Featured Image Credit: PA/FightHype

Topics: Bronze Bomber, Boxing News, Boxing, muhammad ali, Deontay Wilder

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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