Deontay Wilder Makes His Sunday Night Debut, on Showtime’s Billions
Undefeated WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder appeared on Showtime’s popular series Billions, much like nearly all of his other challenges champ knocked it out
Back on January 9, undefeated WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder posted a picture on his Instagram account of him standing in front of what looked like an actor’s trailer for some kind of filming. The caption read, “God has Blessed me to be able to do something else that I’m very passionate about and that’s acting… Just wait until you see the Champ in Lights, Camera, Action.”
As most boxing fans awaited the announcement of the 6-feet 7-inch power puncher’s next opponent, many might’ve forgotten about what the Alabama native was up to outside of the ring.
On Saturday, May 18 Wilder returns to Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center to face challenger Dominic Breazeale for the ninth defense of his title, in the main event of a Showtime Championship Boxing event. Back on May 5, a during Showtime’s Sunday night line-up, the Bronze Bomber shared the camera, and some different kinds of bright lights, with members of the cast of the popular drama Billions in an episode entitled “Fight Night.”
Even with America’s only reigning Heavyweight champ playing an instrumental role in preparing Axe Capital’s temperamental “Dollar” Bill Stearn (Kelly AuCoin) for a handful of rounds versus Taylor Mason Capital’s easy-going Mafee (Dan Soder), fans of the show had zero shot at seeing a “man down” situation. Not even with a seven-figure wager on the line between hard-hitting rivals Axe and Taylor – the Chief Investment Officers of the two aforementioned capital management firms.
Wilder’s performance was solid, during the few moments in which he was featured. He held the heavy bag as “Dollar” Bill banged away with some slapping power punches. He demonstrated how to skip rope like a real fighter, and he yelled some instructions in hopes of inspiring one of Axe’s leading earners to inflict some real pain on his targets. And, for those who didn’t pick up on Wilder’s logo on his hoodie, and didn’t know who the champ was, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen introduced him by name, and title, during the Axe team’s ring walk.
Come May 18 it’ll be Wilder climbing through the ropes to settle a personal beef with Breazeale that’s been brewing for quite some time. The champion is heavily favored over the one-loss challenger who was stopped by unified Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in June 2016. However, Breazeale’s resilience played a key role in him earning this mandatory shot, and it’s the Heavyweight division so there may be some appealing wagers to be placed at various online bookmakers.
The two fighters have a total of 57 knockouts between them, over the course of their combined 60 bouts. Wilder could very well be in for another short night of work on Showtime. But on Saturday nights the action only involves a single take.
All photos by Amanda Westcott/Showtime
