At the Golden Gloves, he defeated highly touted cadet world champion Isiah Thomas, a southpaw from Detroit, and David Thompson, of Brooklyn, in the finals.

Early in 2008 he scored a career-best win by edging out world championship silver medalist and future Olympic champion Rakhim Chakhiyev in Russia.

[8] Wilder then competed at heavyweight in the 2008 Olympics, defeating Abdelaziz Touilbini of Algeria and Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco before losing to Clemente Russo of Italy in the semi-final to earn a bronze medal.

[15][16] Wilder won his first title in professional boxing when he knocked out 37-year-old Kelvin Price (13–0, 6 KOs) at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, on December 15, 2012.

[26] On May 9, Frank Warren announced a card that would take place at the Wembley Arena in London on June 15, 2013, which would feature Wilder and British boxer Derek Chisora as the main event.

[29] In June, Golden Boy announced Wilder would main event a triple header of a Showtime card at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, against former WBO heavyweight champion Siarhei Liakhovich (25–5, 16 KOs) on August 9, 2013, in a ten-round bout.

[43][44] On January 17, 2015, billed as "Return to Glory", Wilder fought Stiverne at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for the WBC heavyweight title.

Szpilka looked very strong as the bout began, and won the first three rounds with his awkward southpaw stance, rapid foot movement, and talent for slipping punches.

Szpilka fell to the canvas, and his head jerked backwards in a reflex motion, abruptly ending the competitive contest and sending the ringside physicians and emergency medical personnel immediately into the ring.

[67] After the fight, newly crowned heavyweight champion Tyson Fury entered the ring going face-to-face in a heated verbal exchange with Wilder, calling him out.

[69] Wilder was due to make the fourth defense of his WBC heavyweight title against former WBA (Regular) champion and mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30–1, 22 KOs) on May 21, 2016, at the Megasport Arena in Moscow, Russia.

[82] For the fight, Wilder wore white trunks with black trim, featuring a portrait of his personal idol and the late heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali who had died recently.

[89] On December 21, 2016, according to Wilder's manager Jay Deas, there were advance talks for a fight to take place on February 25, 2017, at the Legacy Arena in Alabama against 29-year-old two-time Polish heavyweight champion and former world title challenger Andrzej Wawrzyk (33–1, 19 KOs).

[109][110] On July 18, 2017, it was reported that a deal was being negotiated for Wilder to make his sixth defense of his WBC title against heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz (27–0, 23 KOs, 2 NC).

Stiverne told Boxing Scene that Don King had not been given any permission to negotiate a step-a-side fee and he would work with his management team to ensure he challenges for the WBC title in his next fight.

[153] On July 30, it was reported that there were ongoing negotiations for a fight to take place in either November or December 2018 between former unified heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury (27–0, 19 KOs) and Wilder.

[176] In a rematch of their 2018 fight, Wilder faced Luis Ortiz again on November 23, 2019, winning by seventh-round knockout to retain his WBC heavyweight title after being behind on all three of the judges' scorecards 58–56 and 59–55 (twice).

[183] His rematch with Ortiz had been the sixth time Wilder had fought a boxer who was ranked in the global heavyweight top ten by BoxRec within a year of the bout.

Wilder ultimately lost the fight via seventh-round technical knockout when his trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel, losing his WBC heavyweight title in the process.

[190] In the post-fight interview, Wilder's head trainer Jay Deas stated that he disagreed with his co-trainer's decision to stop the fight, saying "Mark [Breland] threw in the towel, I didn't think he should've.

[192] Wilder attributed his defeat to factors including his water "being spiked as if I took a muscle relaxer", his ring-walk costume being "way too heavy for me... it weighed 40lb with the helmet and all the batteries", and that Fury had "scratched flesh out of my ears which caused them to bleed".

[196][197] Despite the widespread criticism of Wilder's allegations, for which he provided no credible evidence to support, he did not back down; on October 31, 2020, he issued a series of statements on social media continuing to accuse Fury of cheating, as well as asking for a trilogy bout.

[198][200] On May 17, 2021, arbitration judge Daniel Weinstein ruled that WBC and The Ring champion Tyson Fury will have to honor a contractual clause which calls for a third fight with Wilder.

[204] Fury is the third opponent that Wilder has alluded to having intentions of killing, having previously made similar death threats in the past to Bermane Stiverne and Dominic Breazeale.

In the middle rounds, Fury recovered and started landing with more regularity, racking up a commanding lead on the cards and marking up Wilder's face badly, with the latter now visibly exhausted as a result of all of the punishment he had taken.

After the fight, Fury praised his opponent, calling Wilder a "top fighter", but criticized him for being a "sore loser" and refusing to "show any sportsmanship or respect".

The headline for the event, billed as Day of Reckoning was Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin, with Wilder in the co-feature bout against former WBO champion Joseph Parker (33-3, 23 KOs) in a 12-round non-title heavyweight fight.

[223] After the official press conference, Riyadh Season agreed terms with DAZN to broadcast the event on their pay-per-view platform in the UK, US and other worldwide markets.

"[248] Wilder graduated from Tuscaloosa Central High School in 2004 and dreamed of playing football (wide receiver) or basketball (forward) for his hometown Alabama Crimson Tide, but the birth of his oldest daughter and poor grades caused him to attend nearby Shelton State Community College and to focus on a boxing career.

[256] After falsely accusing Maksim Chmerkovskiy (a "Faithful") of being a "Traitor", who was subsequently voted out, Wilder broke down in tears and decided to leave the show after episode 3.