American heavyweight Deontay Wilder has defended himself after again saying he wants to kill an opponent in the ring.
Wilder, 33, said he was “trying to get a body on my record” before defending his WBC title against compatriot Dominic Breazeale on Saturday.
It is Wilder’s first fight since his title defence against Tyson Fury in December ended in a controversial draw.
“This is the only sport where you can kill a man and get paid for it at the same time,” said Wilder. “It’s legal.”
Wilder has made similar comments in the past. In March 2018, British heavyweight Tony Bellew called him a “disgrace and senseless idiot”.
Earlier this year, after Wilder told Breazeale to “make some funeral arrangements”, promoter Eddie Hearn said: “It’s bad for the sport.”
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Wilder, who has 39 knockouts from his 40 fights, said: “[Breazeale’s] life is on the line for this fight and I do mean his life. I am still trying to get me a body on my record.”
Asked what people would think about such comments, he replied: “Dominic Breazeale asked for this. I didn’t go seek him. He [sought] me. So if it comes it comes. This is a brutal sport. This is not a gentleman sport.
“We don’t ask to hit each other in the face but we do anyway. And you can ask any doctor around the world, he will tell you, your head is not meant to be hit.
“On this particular time we have bad blood against each other. This is the only sport where you can kill a man and get paid for it at the same time. It’s legal. So why not use my right to do so?”
Breazeale, 33, has lost one of his 21 fights – a seventh-round knockout by Britain’s unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2016.
