Deontay Wilder Says He Almost Shot The Internet Troll Who Allegedly Bullied His Daughter

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.”