Boxing star Deontay Wilder is facing stunning allegations just days before he returns to the ring, with the son of his ex-fiancee claiming the former heavyweight champion beat him so brutally that he feared for his life.
Wilder, one of the most powerful punchers in boxing history, denies the claims made in a lawsuit by Kerron Swift, the child of Wilder’s ex Telli Swift.
A lawyer for the 40-year-old, who faces Britain’s Dereck Chisora in London on Saturday night, has branded the accusations ‘false’ and the timing of the lawsuit ‘suspicious.’
In the document, which has been reviewed by the Daily Mail, Wilder is accused of abusing Swift over nearly a decade, including while he was a minor.
He is being sued for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.
Among the shocking claims in the lawsuit is an alleged incident from 2022, when the boxer is accused of grabbing Swift – then just 16 – by the throat, lifting him into the air, slamming him into a wall and throwing him on a table ‘like a ragdoll.’
In the lawsuit, Swift claims he believed he was going to die.
Deontay Wilder is accused of beating the son of his ex-fiancee, Telli Swift (right, in 2018)
The boxing star denies the allegations, with his lawyer calling the lawsuit’s timing ‘suspicious’
Wilder is also accused of whipping the boy with a belt in 2019 – leaving with him bruises – and slapping him so hard in a car that Swift – then just 13 – hit his head on the vehicle.
Swift claims to have suffered physical injuries and long-term emotional trauma from the alleged abuse, at the hands of a man described as possessing ‘extraordinary physical power’.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Wilder’s attorney, Paul Patterson, said: ‘It is clearly obvious this lawsuit and the timing of it was orchestrated and done by design to attempt to embarrass Mr Wilder by leveling false allegations against him.
‘He is well-known in our community as a loving and caring father, who would never physically discipline his kids or anyone else’s children. And we look forward to defending this matter in a court of law.’
Patterson also told TMZ ‘the timing of this lawsuit is suspicious since Mr. Wilder fights in less than 48 hours.’
