"I had caught him with a right hand-left hook combination. I hurt him with the left hook. I saw it moved him, so I went in for the kill. What led to the stoppage, I hit him with a couple of body shots which caused him to bend over and he dropped his head and I threw a vicious uppercut that ended the day and broke his nose...I got an 81-inch wing span and I’m heavy-handed. I’m naturally strong. I have a natural hunger too and my work ethic is out the roof and that speaks for itself when you look at my body," stated heavyweight Marsellos Wilder, brother of undefeated heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who talked about his victory in his pro debut, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the first round TKO in your pro debut. How did you feel out there?
MW: Ah man, I felt real good, man. I felt rejuvenated. I felt like a new person. Coming from playing basketball and college football, man, now to boxing and only having seven amateur fights to having my debut in my home city and getting a first round KO, it was a dream come true.
PC: You broke your opponent's nose in the process. What was the combination that made the ref step in and stop it?
MW: I had caught him with a right hand-left hook combination. I hurt him with the left hook. I saw it moved him, so I went in for the kill. What led to the stoppage, I hit him with a couple of body shots which caused him to bend over and he dropped his head and I threw a vicious uppercut that ended the day and broke his nose.
PC: What was the reception like for you out there?
MW: Man, it was crazy, man. Walking out there to the ring and seeing the place jam packed and everybody screaming for me, I had no idea that I had that many supporters. It was definitely motivating for me and an extra pump up for me to go even more hammer in that ring.
PC: Were you a little nervous? Anxious? What was the feeling leading up to the fight?
MW: It really wasn’t any nerves in it for me or anything like that because being Deontay Wilder’s brother, I’m already positioned where pressure is automatically put upon me; just being his little brother and going into the same occupation as him. There are a lot of people trying to put his success on me to where I have to achieve what he did. I feel that is a little pressure, but I don’t really let pressure get to me. I just feel like I’m me. I’m not Deontay Wilder, I’m me and I’m just going to go in and do what I do.
PC: Is there a fine line there in accepting the...I guess you can call it limelight from being his little brother while at the same time separating yourself career-wise from his career?
MW: It’s something that comes natural for me. My brother been in this game way longer than me. He had an amateur career. I have only been in the ring to compete 8 times, and that was 7 times as an amateur and once as a pro. I just feel like, as of right now, people shouldn’t try and put my footsteps on my brother. At least let me get wet in the game a little bit, you know what I’m saying?
PC: Definitely! You are competing at cruiserweight. You came in ripped at 198. What do you feel you bring to this division that always seems to have a void for some new blood?
MW: Honestly, man, I truly feel like I got the whole package. I feel like I’m the whole deal. I’m fast, I’m strong, athletic, I got a nice size, I got long arms...I can do everything in that ring. I train myself to be a balanced fighter; all around. I’m blessed with the physical attributes of having long arms for my height. I’m 6’3", but I got an 81-inch wing span and I’m heavy-handed. I’m naturally strong. I have a natural hunger too and my work ethic is out the roof and that speaks for itself when you look at my body.
PC: You guys definitely have great genes and athleticism. You’re coming over from playing basketball and collegiate football. How does that help coming over into boxing?
MW: With basketball, it helps out a lot because coming into boxing, boxing has a lot of pivots. I just look at it like pivoting in boxing is a lot like pivoting in basketball, using that front toe to turn and using that back foot to turn as well. And in football, it helps me out so much because I’m used to the physical aspect; I’m a natural physical guy. As far as hitting and punching and banging, I’m used to that. That’s right up my alley. The hardest I’ve ever been hit was in football; head-to-head collision where I was took off of my feet. So coming into boxing, it was natural for me to get in there and bang with somebody. That was really natural to me. Coming into this game, it helped me out so much and gave me a foot into this game a little bit by playing those sports in my past life.
PC: You got the first one under your belt. How soon can we expect you back and how often would you like to go this year?
MW: I got my first one under my belt and I’m looking forward to getting in there next month, man. I’m going to get with my team and my management and we’re trying to get back in there as soon as possible. I want to get at least 5 to 6 fights before this year is over with. If not, I just want to fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.
PC: This is the first of many, I’m sure. Lock my number in and hit me up anytime. Give me some closing thoughts, my man.
MW: I just want to thank God, my brother, and my family. Everybody who has been sticking with me up to this point, be on the lookout for me. I’m going to continue to train hard and learn all the way up to the point where I get to be the cruiserweight champion of the world.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]