Deontay Wilder & fiancee Telli Swift talk special ringwalk and endeavors

In this FanSided exclusive, former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder discusses surprise music video while his fiancee Telli Swift goes into Boxing WAGS and new fragrance, D’Telli.

Heavyweight Boxing returns to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, as FOX PPV hosts a night that will feature some intriguing matchups but none more important than the main event. Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (42-2-1) returns to the ring after a 12-month layoff to face Finland’s Robert Helenius (31-3). As it has been for almost all of Wilder’s fights, everyone in the arena and watching on their phones or TVs will be on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the big boom.

During fight week, fighters are typically peppered with questions related to the preparation for the fight and the expectation levels when they step into the ring. A lot of times, whether due to the lack of availability or the mood of the fighter, it’s hard to have questions created and asked that tap into the human side of things. When the opportunity to speak to Wilder was presented, including his fiancée Telli Swift, I jumped at the idea of having that honest conversation with the fighter and the person who represents his support system.

After his third fight with Tyson Fury last October, Wilder took a much-deserved break from the sport he has been a professional for since 2009. That time away allowed Wilder to focus more on his loved ones and on things he is passionate about. When asked about re-centering himself spiritually after facing adversity in the ring, Wilder told FanSided, “Family is very important to me, and it’s the reason why I make a lot of the decisions in my life. I always tell my kids that they have a father who is not only thinking about what is going on right now but also their future. I do the best that I can to be a loving father. Children don’t care about finances; it’s all about the love and the time spent. My focus has always been on my family and being able to take care of them along with my wife and support her to the best of my ability.”

Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius can be streamed live on the FOX Sports App 

Wilder continued, “When you go thru certain hurdles or bumps in the road, it allows you to have time. Time is what I was missing. With that time, we were able to plan a lot of trips, and I was able to take those trips with them and put smiles on my children’s faces and my beautiful woman’s. I am the breadwinner of the family, and she (Telli) is my big support system with a lot of things. We love each other so much, and I am very appreciative of her support.”

While experiencing these special moments with those he loves, Wilder decided to record a track with his brother Marsellos called “Everytime.” The sound of the track produces the type of music that sets the mood not only in a positive way but also gives you that good feeling deep down inside about your special someone or just life as a whole. Wilder isn’t a full-time recording artist, so the more interesting question would be how the song’s concept came about. Wilder said, “The hook was a verse. Then I started to listen to it. Music is something you feel and not something you hear. So, when I started to say, “Every time I’m around you, girl, you make my mood change,” it was true passion because they were true words. Listening to the beat allowed me to write more to the song.”

The song “Everytime,” available on all streaming platforms, means much more to Wilder than one would imagine. It’s a product of where he is in life, which sounds like a good place. Wilder told FanSided exclusively that the video’s world premiere will be shown as part of his ringwalk on Saturday night. That is something different but not surprising after hearing how the song came about. Hearing the song and having the video play for all to watch is Wilder telling everyone that he is just in a different space and enjoys being there.

“Without giving away too much, the music video is going to be very classy and sexy. It’s very relatable, and we love to spread LOVE amongst the world. That’s what the song is all about. Being with someone that makes your mood change and makes your soul sing. When you’re with someone like that, you feel unbreakable. Although I am a fighter, we love to spread love. The video is going to have a lot of that presented, and what other girl to have in the video than my very own. We have a nice place where the video was shot, but I don’t want to give too much away. Once you listen to the song and see the video, it’s going to all tie in beautifully. I am so happy and proud of this project,” said the 36-year-old former heavyweight champion. Telli added, “Shout out to the Nightfall Group for actually helping us find the perfect location to do the video. It just made the video so much more meaningful to the both of us.”

Making one song is hard enough, but when someone creates music, that itch usually doesn’t go away, so will we get a full album in the future? Wilder told FanSided, “Maybe one day. I’m still active in boxing, and it’s a year-round business. It demands respect of your time for training and preparing. We put our life on the line. We step into the ring and risk our lives for others’ entertainment. I had the time to lay out from my regular occupation and just get into something that I was passionate about doing. I really wanted to do this project. Certain people have heard other songs that I have that are unfinished and say, ‘ah man, I’m waiting on the album.’ Maybe one day in the future (releasing an album).”

Shifting the conversation to Telli, she is certainly someone that has a lot going on in her career. She is a mother, Philanthropist, TV & Radio persona, and owns a fragrance. Starting with her philanthropy, she started a non-profit named “Boxing WAGS Association.” This is something she is passionate about, and the reasons behind it will tug on just about anyone’s emotional strings. Telli told FanSided, “Two things: First, our oldest daughter Naieya, was born with Spina bifida (a condition that affects the spine at birth), so I wanted more people to be aware and raise funds to detect Spina bifida at a sooner point in pregnancy. Also, raise funds for people who can’t afford to get it treated.”

Telli continued, “The second came about when I went to a WAGS Academy for a group of women that were with a group of athletes from the NBA, NFL, and Boxing. All of the other sports have associations for the women in their sport, but boxing doesn’t. I figured, why not cater an association to women and children? We had our first male-dominated event, and we’ve done events supporting Spina bifida, Breast Cancer, Autism, and now Prostate Cancer.” Wilder added, “I am very proud of her and seeing her do what she is passionate about doing.”

When asked about her long-term vision for the Boxing WAGS Association, Telli passionately spoke about wanting to do something big so that money can be raised to possibly open an orphanage, children’s hospital, or just something to help women and families in general. With any association, it’s always a positive thing to show those that have invested or donated money that they are part of something that is making a difference in society, so those are things Telli keeps in mind as she drives towards reaching those goals.

It doesn’t stop there, as one of her other big projects is a recently released fragrance called D’Telli. As you can see from the fragrance title, it has both Wilder’s name and Telli, so the scent is unisex, which was something important to them both. The process of making it and the journey is always interesting to hear. Wilder said, “We think alike. It’s not a coincidence that we have so much love for each other. We have a lot of people that support us and love our relationship. If you live long enough, you have growth in your life. When you grow together, you are able to handle each other in certain ways. With the fragrance, we both came up with that idea. She took the initiative to go ahead and start something. She worked day and night on the D’Telli Fragrance. I gave my input on certain things, and the smell she came up with is amazing. We just left the NY Giants stadium, and all of the players loved it. She would spray it on me and say, ‘there you go, so now when I’m not with you, you can always think of me”. (Laughs)

Telli added, “It was a process to make, definitely. Putting it all together, it has 17 different notes that I felt smelled good on Deontay and smelled good on me. We chose the bottle color scheme based on the things he loves, but it also represents love and passion. Gold is a color that represents luxury, so it’s Love, Luxury, Rich & Elegance all in one bottle. It’s unisex, and we want everyone to have it and think about love, whether self-love or love as a couple; it’s for everyone.”

While discussing life and everything he has outside the ring, the energy was very positive and infectious. Was this the same guy that breaks microphones screaming “Bommmbb Squaddddd”? It absolutely is, but the space he is in during this part of his career allows him to be still that Wilder and enjoy seeing his partner in life making an impact not only on society but also on their household. That’s what is important, and if this positive energy creates a chapter in Wilder’s career that sees him reach the mountaintop once again, then we all need to start taking more vacations and investing more time into the things we love.

This Saturday night, will we see the return of the iron fist as Wilder has found his “chi”. If you are tuning in, don’t blink, as you might miss something as it happens that quickly.