Deonte Wilder’s fiancée receives temporary restraining order. What do we know?
Though details continue to emerge, what seems to be assured is that the former heavyweight champion is in trouble, and based on his past, it’s no surprise.
While boxing is a sport of violence, the assumption always is that it stays in the ring. If reports are to be believed, the former heavyweight world champion has not stuck to that age-old code and so, may now find himself in legal trouble.
*The following article includes descriptions of alleged domestic violence and child abuse.*
The details of the temporary restraining order against Deontay Wilder
According to reports, Telli Swift, the fiancée of Deontay Wilder, has been granted a temporary restraining order against the former heavyweight champion boxer due to a multitude of domestic violence allegations. As per reports, Swift applied for the TRO in Los Angeles last week and was subsequently granted it by a judge earlier this week on Monday. It is understood that the order requires Wilder to stay at least 100 yards away from Swift and their daughter and must continue to do so until June 25th, the date set for a joint appearance before a judge.
Where context is concerned, Swift has been in a relationship with Wilder since 2015 and later got engaged to him in 2018. She has accused Wilder of choking her at least five times since 2018, including one instance that occurred in front of their daughter and her son. Further to that, Swift has also accused Wilder of slamming her son’s head against a car. There are also allegations concerning her laptop, which she states Wilder took without her consent, only to send disturbing messages to a number of contacts. Additionally, Swift claims that their home surveillance system was used by Wilder to spy on her, a move that led to him throwing her out of their Atlanta home in April just shortly after she had undergone invasive surgery. This, according to Swift, comes against a backdrop of ridicule, threats, and the expectation of intercourse “three times a day.”
Yet, what is worth noting is that Swift declared that things actually got worse for her after Wilder’s fight in Saudi Arabia last Saturday. “I believe Deontay is capable of being physically violent towards me upon his return in June because he has expressed that he is furious with me since April and has been physically abusive with me in the past,” she said. She also went on to indicate that things have been on a downward spiral since his losses to former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
“At that point, he struggled to get fights that could advance his career and he was emotionally unstable,” Swift stated in her request for a restraining order. “He would cry and yell often in our home.” In keeping with the trend of increased aggression after a loss, Swift also explained that things ramped up following Wilder’s loss to Joseph Parker in December “Deontay has been more emotionally abusive to me than anytime in the past. I have been suffering in silence despite Deontay becoming increasingly aggressive and controlling because I did not want him to experience any further mental health struggles.”
Deontay Wilder has been here before
To be clear, a temporary restraining order in California requires one party to file a statement in which they give their reason for believing the other is a threat. Assuming a judge complies, it’s granted. What’s worth noting, is that the ‘defendant’ does not have to be present for the initial stage, but rather for any resulting court date where they can argue their case. With that in mind, it will not bode well for Wilder that he was previously arrested on strangulation charges in Las Vegas back in 2013.
Though it’s no justification for his actions, context does help and to that end, the restraining order was granted just two days after Wilder loss to Zhilei Zhang in the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5, a result that has left his seemingly illustrious career in shambles. Indeed, Wilder has fallen quite some distance since the days when he was an undefeated WBC heavyweight champion and one known for extreme punching power. It would be fair to say that his descent started the moment he lost his belt to Fury in 2020.
From that point on, Wilder has failed to win a fight, losing five in total with the loss to Zhang being perhaps the most costly as it means he can no longer count himself among the heavyweight division’s elite. At this point, it remains unclear what comes next where Wilder’s career is concerned, but given the circumstances he now faces, that’s likely the least of his concerns.