Former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder said he came close to killing the internet troll who allegedly directed threats toward his daughter online. Wilder made the confession when he appeared on The Pivot Podcast, saying he almost shot Charlie Zelenoff in 2014.
According to Sportskeeda, Wilder traveled to Los Angeles eight years ago and confronted Zelenoff in a boxing gym. The fight was captured on video as Wilder battered the YouTuber and knocked him to the floor.
Deontay Wilder travelled to LA and beat up internet troll Charlie Zelenoff back in 2014…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) July 4, 2022
Wilder said Zelenoff racially abused him and made threats about his daughter. pic.twitter.com/fnNohDnnns
The confrontation, however, could have been much worse.
“I really went there to kill him — to shoot him, to be honest,” Wilder said. “Devil got in me at one point of time because we were in some alleys and my voice changed. … Cuz was there with me. I brought cuz with me too. … My face changed because I knew what my capabilities were.”
The 36-year-old changed his mind when he realized the possible consequences for his cameraman.
“I knew I couldn’t do it because my cameraman was one of my good friends and I had a vision of him snitching on us and I would’ve had to shoot him too,” Wilder said. “I told him, I said, ‘I couldn’t do it because I would’ve had to shoot you too. Because I saw you telling on us.’ And he started, ‘Oh no, D.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m serious. I would’ve had to shoot you too.'”
In a 2014 interview with RingTV, Wilder said Zelenoff had been sending racist messages and threatening him and his daughter.
“The only reason I went this far with it was that he went overboard,” the boxer said. “He threatened to murder me, and he called me the N-word. Then what took it over the top is that he said that he was going to duct tape my daughter’s mouth and when I was reading that, I was picturing that actually happening.”
