Deontay Wilder was a developing force early in his career and didn’t carry the power he does now, according to a heavyweight who dropped the American.
“The Bronze Bomber” fought Harold Sconiers in 2010 as an up-and-comer. The fight is etched into Wilder’s history as the former WBC ruler got dropped for the first time in his career.
Despite being down himself twice in the first and twice later in the contest, Sconiers managed to put Wilder on the canvas in a hotly-debated knockdown.
Deontay Wilder was knocked down
According to those ringside, Wilder was flattened and down for longer than ten seconds. He was ultimately saved by the bell with a slow count.
At 12-0, Wilder’s legendary run to 40-0 would have been over 28 victories earlier than recorded.
However, Wilder was given the benefit of the doubt and halted Sconiers in the fourth round at Fantasy Springs.
Video footage remains unavailable from the night as Golden Boy Promotions didn’t release any and the Mexican TV station covering the event only taped the main event.
Eloy Perez vs Dominic Salcido remains readily available. But the most-talked-about happening fell to the cutting room floor.
Having retired in 2013 with an 18-27-2 record, the fight still hangs around a decade later as a bone of contention. And despite being down four times, Sconiers doesn’t rate Deontay Wilder’s power from their meeting.
Sconiers doesn’t rate Wilder’s power
“Yeah, you know, to tell you the truth, I didn’t really – out of all the guys I fight, I wouldn’t really rank Wilder — at that time — in the top as far as power punches,” Sconiers told SportBible.
“I fell in the beginning mostly just because of nerves. Man, I was so nervous, and he came out aggressively.”
The pair had shared a moment at the scaling where Wilder tried to intimidate Sconiers. This led to him and his coach hatching a plan to KO Wilder that almost worked.
Sadly for Sconiers at that time, Wilder was Golden Boy’s golden goose and the future of their tenure in the sport.
Looking back, “Hard Roc” doesn’t remember Wilder as being the blunt-force trauma operator he is today.
“Reflecting on the incident at the weigh-in, I think that he just thought I was just some nobody,” explained Sconiers. “He thought he was just going to walk through me. So, he was coming forward and just coming very aggressively.
“And starting the fight, I was nervous about him coming at me like that. He caught me with some shots.”
Fourth round knockout
Recalling the four knockdowns he suffered, Sconiers concluded: “As far as I know, the knockdowns weren’t flat on my back.
“They were like touching a knee, grazing the ground, and jumping back up. I was trying to get myself centered so I could take a few deep breaths and say, ‘Okay, let me get my head into this.”
It was all over in the fourth in a huge ‘what might have been’ moment for Harold Sconiers.
Wilder never looked back and is considered one of the most concussive punchers in history. Sconiers can always tell the story to his grandkids.
