Deontay Wilder heads to Kansas City on June 27 for a boxing comeback in the home of the world-famous back-to-back Super Bowl-winning Chiefs.
Global Combat Collective confirmed Wilder’s return to the ring from a year out for broadcasting on the BLK Prime network this summer. The former WBC heavyweight champion battles the little-known Tyrrel Herndon, who has never ventured anywhere near world-class.
So far, Wilder has decided to remain silent on the imminent fight following allegations of turmoil in his personal life. However, Wichita State University spokesperson Brad Pittman revealed the reasoning behind the Bronze Bomber making his Kansas debut.
Pittman told The Wichita Eagle that GCC was impressed by the staging of a Nico Hernandez event in July 2022 at the Charles Koch Arena.
“When you bring in these high-profile events [to Wichita, Kansas] and you do a good job with them, people tend to take notice,” Pittman explained to the Eagle. “Wichita is a sports town, and we’ve had success hosting a variety of events here, including boxing.
“People vouched for us as a venue and as an operation that we would do a good job with it. We were here at the right time and the right place for this to happen.”
Deontay Wilder in Kansas
The Wilder vs. Herndon headliner will be the second boxing match staged at the Charles Koch Arena. Wilder aims to record his first career victory since October 2022 when he fights a fighter well below his credentials on paper.
Herndon last shared the ring with a well-known boxer in October 2023 when he was defeated in two rounds by Richard Torrez Jr. in his sixth pro fight.
The Texan is 24-5, 15 KOs, but the main factor in Herndon being chosen for Wilder was those four knockouts in his defeat column.
Wilder needs to get back to winning ways, and he needs to look good doing it. Herndon, 37, is seen as just another notch on the KO column for boxing’s biggest puncher since Mike Tyson.
However, given how Torrez handled Herndon, Wilder must take his opponent out handily to be taken seriously as a future two-time heavyweight champion.
The pressure is on, and without the significant spotlight of a Las Vegas or a Saudi Arabia, Wilder has the ideal stage to get his career back on track.
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay.Learn more about the author, an experienced boxing writer and World Boxing News Editor since 2010.