Deontay Wilder's fiancée receives temporary restraining order over domestic violence allegations, per reports
Content warning: This story includes descriptions of alleged domestic violence and child abuse.
Telli Swift, the fiancée of Deontay Wilder, was granted a temporary restraining order against the former heavyweight champion boxer due to a litany of domestic violence allegations, according to TMZ and USA Today.
Swift reportedly applied for the TRO in Los Angeles last week and was granted it by a judge on Monday. The order requires Wilder to stay at least 100 yards away from Swift and their daughter and will remain in effect until June 25, when the two parties are scheduled to appear before a judge.
In the application, Swift — who has been in a relationship with Wilder since 2015 and got engaged to him in 2018 — reportedly accuses Wilder of choking her at least five times since 2018, once in front of their daughter and her son, and slamming her son's head against a car.
She also reportedly claims Wilder took her laptop without her consent and sent disturbing messages to her contacts, used their home surveillance system to spy on her and threw her out of their Atlanta residence in April despite her having recently undergone invasive surgery. That's in addition to allegedly ridiculing her constantly, threatening to destroy her belongings and expecting intercourse "three times a day."
Swift was apparently frightened that Wilder could become violent when he returned home after his fight in Saudi Arabia last Saturday. Via TMZ:
"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 believes his mental health has deteriorated alongside his career since his losses to Tyson Fury, via USA Today:
“At that point, he struggled to get fights that could advance his career and he was emotionally unstable,’’ Swift said in the request for a restraining order. “He would cry and yell often in our home.’’
Since losing to Joseph Parker in December, Swift said, “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.’’
It's worth noting that the process to obtain a temporary restraining order in California essentially consists of one party filing a statement about why they think the other is a threat and a judge granting it based on what the filer claims. The subject of the temporary restraining order, in this case Wilder, does not need to be present for the initial filing, only for the subsequent court date in which he may argue his case.
This isn't the first time Wilder has been accused of domestic violence, as he was also arrested on strangulation charges in Las Vegas in 2013.
Deontay Wilder's career hit rock bottom last weekend
The restraining order was granted two days after Wilder's loss to Zhilei Zhang in the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5, which left the heavyweight at a dire point in his career.
Once an undefeated WBC heavyweight champion and one of the sport's most popular boxers thanks to his elite punching power, Wilder lost his belt to Fury in 2020 and has now lost four of his last five bouts. The Zhang fight represented a chance for Wilder to remain in the elite ranks of the heavyweight divisions.
Instead, Wilder looked slow and tentative all the way up to the fifth round, when Zhang caught him after an awkward spin and left him flat on the ground. Many watching, including Wilder's mother, believed it could be the final fight of Wilder's career.
