DEONTAY WILDER and Luis Ortiz will step into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tonight with a determination to knock each other out.
But their battle won’t be without lack of respect for each other.
Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz both have daughters born with special needsCredit: Getty – Contributor
Wilders daughter Naieya suffered with spina bifida at birthCredit: Getty Images – Getty
For the two share a common ground – a heartbreak that’s bigger than boxing for the both of them, and a reason to fight.
The stars of the heavyweight division have daughters born with special needs, and require extra care around the clock.
Ortiz took daughter Lismercedes from Cuba to the US when she was just four seeking treatment for a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa.
While Wilder’s eldest child Naieya was born in 2005 with spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly.
A SHARED BELIEF
The Bronze Bomber recently levelled with King Kong before their bout – a rematch of a past match in 2018 that saw Wilder win by technical knockout in the tenth.
The 6ft7in orthodox boxer acknowledged the reason why they do this; it’s for the love of their families.
“When I look at him and I look at me, we have similarities,” Wilder said in a press conference.
“His daughter suffers from something like mine did. That takes money to be treated properly and to support the family.
“I looked at him as a father and from one father to another father that loves their family, and loves their children, I said, ‘I’ve got to give him an opportunity to support his family.’”
Lismercedes Ortiz was born with the rare skin condition EBCredit: Showtime
Not that he’s going to be showing his rival any sympathy, mind.
“It would have been easy to say, ‘I’m not going to fight you any more. You had your chance,” Wilder continued.
“But when I see him going through something with his daughter and knowing my story, I can relate to that.
“I’m still going to knock him out in the ring, but he’s going to get some money to support his family and I want to provide that for [him].”
THE CHALLENGER
Ortiz left Cuba in 2009, braving a choppy sea on a small hovercraft before trekking across the desert for the two days with just one shoe.
He was a man on a mission. And it wasn’t fame he was chasing.
He wanted to heal his ill daughter, Lismercedes, and knew America was his best bet in finding a cure for a disease that was crippling her.
“I came to this country because of my daughter, because I wanted to find a cure,” he said.
“This is the most important thing to me.”
Ortiz’s daughter suffers with EB. Instead of multiple layers of skin like most people possess, she just has one.
Minor friction or rubbing can result in the skin tearing or blistering. The discomfort is comparable to a third-degree burn.
Ortiz left Cuba in 2009 for America to find a cure for LismercedesCredit: AFP – Getty
Ortiz has admitted he boxes to provide for his familyCredit: Showtime
“It’s very hard for me to do both things — to box and care for my family,” Ortiz admitted. “I have to train for a fight and care for my daughter.
“Right before I left, she tripped herself and is so used to saying, ‘Papi, hold me down while mom dresses me,’ because that’s what she’s used to … but I had to leave.
“Her little brothers know she suffers, but she’s very strong. … The doctors have said this type of sickness either makes kids strong or really depresses them.
“It’s built her up, taught her how to learn how to withstand pain. She’s at this spot where she knows how to live with it on an everyday basis and she’s going to live with more of it than anyone else.”
INSPIRED TO GREATNESS
At 19 Wilder had dreams of becoming a professional athlete.
But that all seemed like a pipe dream when he quit junior college and gave up on what he believed was his destiny – playing college football for Alabama Crimson Tide.
His reasons for giving up were out of necessity. His daughter Naieya was born that same year with spina bifida, so he had to turn to boxing to make money.
The father of four made a pledge to Naieya he was going to be world champion, and in 2015 he realised that promise to hold a heavyweight belt.
Wilder’s journey from waiting tables at a pancake restaurant to spending hours alone in a gym to being a recognised threat in the boxing was complete.
Wilder gave up on his college football dream to box to support his daughter NaieyaCredit: Showtime
Naieya defied doctors who said she was never going to walkCredit: Getty Images – Getty
And seeing his daughter defy doctors, who said she may never walk was all the inspiration he needed.
“You could never tell that she has spina bifida. She still walks with a limp because she had [five] surgeries when she was a baby,” he told ESPN in 2017.
“She still has to be catheterised, but she still manages to maintain her own. She is a very strong young lady. She will be a very strong woman. She has no choice, with who her daddy is.
“I have beautiful children, they are growing each and every day, thinking about what they want to become.
“I am a happy father and I can’t wait to secure their lives. I can’t wait to do it. That is why I risk my life each and every time in the ring, to get that much closer to securing their lives forever.”
IT’S ALL FOR HIS KIDS
Although Wilder is famed for trash talking his opponents, his softer side is evident when he discusses family life.
And with Naieya always in his thoughts, he dedicates his career to her, Ava, Dereon and Deontay Jr.
“I love my children to death that is why I am building for them. I am building for them. Everything I do is for them. My career, it is for them,” he divulged.
Trash-talker Wilder wants to earn enough money to secure his family’s futureCredit: @Deontay Wilder// twitter
Wilder believes Naieya watches all his fights and his proud of her fatherCredit: @BRONZEBOMBER// INSTAGRAM
“I am going to make sure that I get everything I deserve. I am going to make sure I get the best of the best, no matter what.
“I am going to make sure they have the best of the best. That is why no matter who gets in the ring with Deontay Wilder, they will be in for the fight of their lives.
“I know for sure she [Naieya] sees the fights. She is a proud daughter.
“She is proud of her father, what I have accomplished, the things I have done and she is also proud that I knock guys out and come back home to her.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
