Contemplating Ring Return Deontay Wilder Hints Psychedelic Therapy

No, the headline above for former WBC Heavyweight champ Deonatay Wilder is not from “The Onion.” Instead, it’s something that Wilder is apparently turning to in hopes of “resetting” his mind and makeup after losing by devastating KO to Tyson Fury in their October trilogy bout.

Wilder appeared late last week on the podcast of former L.A. Lakers basketball champion player and NBA coach, Byron Scott. And, Wilder relayed that he is looking to possibly be back in the ring later this year. However, he’s going try the psychedelic drug Ayahuasca in a drink mixture, as part of mind and body cleansing.

Talk Sport in Britain had more on his comments and the drug, etc. in an item that they published on Monday,

Deontay Wilder is planning to try a psychedelic to decide if he should retire now https://t.co/gbdGQMrf1D

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) February 14, 2022

From the Talk Sport item,

Deontay Wilder has revealed that he is still yet to make a decision on his boxing future and is considering trying psychedelic brew Ayahuasca in order to help him do so….

“I’m thinking about doing Ayahuasca. That’s gonna be my decision making process,” Wilder told Scott. “Ayahuasca is something you take in a spiritual journey, you’re using DMT and stuff like that.

I’ve been really interested in that, getting shamans and stuff like that, I wanna go down this journey, this path… It’s gonna help me navigate my decision making of whether I wanna return to the sport or not.” 

Ayahuasca is a South American plant-based psychedelic brew which, when drank, causes an altered state of consciousness (or ‘high’) and can induce visual hallucinations or altered perceptions of reality.

The active chemical in Ayahuasca is DMT (dimethyltryptamine) – a hallucinogenic drug illegal in most countries…

And, that is the case in the U.S. as this site relays,

“DMT is federally illegal in the U.S. under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and it is officially a Schedule 1 drug. This classification means that possession and intent to sell can carry both a lengthy sentence and a hefty fine.”

However, there are religious and political exemptions made in the U.S. Still, it appears that if the “Bronze Bomber” is following through, it will be out of the country to do so.

As we have previously written, Wilder is potentially looking at a return in a bout with another PBC fighter and former, brief Unified Heavyweight champ, Andy Ruiz. Ruiz, who scored a stunning TKO win over Anthony Joshua to capture the WBA/IBF/WBO titles in June of 2019, but then lost them right back that December, is a viable opponent, if Wilder wants back in the fray.

Still, he’s clearly searching and with over $50 million having been pocketed on the two Fury bouts, if Wilder wants to walk away, he can.