But for the birth of his daughter, Deontay Wilder probably wouldn't be fighting Tyson Fury this weekend.
In fact, he probably wouldn't be fighting at all.
Fourteen years ago Wilder's then wife gave birth to Naieya who was later diagnosed with spina bifida, a condition affecting the spine.
Her parents were warned their daughter may never walk.
Wilder, then 19, was a promising basketball and American football player - but left college and started working to support his young family.
He worked two jobs in restaurants and a third driving a beer truck in order to pay the mounting medical bills.
"I had to do things I didn’t want to do, I been sacrificing for a very long time for my family, for my children," Wilder told BT Sport.
"There’s a lot of things in life that we don’t want to do, but we have to until we get to a certain point in our lives and we can say ‘I can live my life’.
"Many years I worked for other people, many years I put money in other people’s pockets – not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I had no choice.
"This all started from the love of a father trying to support his ill child. I only got into boxing because of my daughter was born with spina bifida."
Wilder walked into the Skyy boxing gym in his home town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was soon taken under the wing of coach Jay Deas, a former TV crime reporter.
"He walked in the gym in late 2005 and said he wanted to box," recalled Deas. "I hear that all the time but he certainly passed the look test.
"When you do that, most are not doing what you told them, but he was, so I thought maybe he was a little diferent from the norm."
Since then Wilder has won an Olympic bronze medal and all 40 of his professional fights - including 39 by KO.
And his daughter, now a teenager, has also gone from strength to strength.
"I'm so proud of my daughter," Wilder, who has four other children, added. "It allows me to continue to be strong in boxing – it’s like we feed off each other's strengths. She's very smart, she's running around.
"She's doing whatever she wants! She's just become a thirteen year old so she’s being a teenager, she likes her own space. She like to do what she like to do. I’m just very proud of her.
"Now, they’re my motivations to everything! That’s why I say no man in the square ring is going to beat me because I bring my children with me – they’re stuck in my heart.
"I've already promised them that and I’ve got to keep my promise, it ain't nothing personal for no fighter in the industry. I want everyone to make money, I want everyone to be successful and have a great life.
"But when it comes to me, I bring something different.
"You’re not just fighting me; you’re fighting me, plus my children."
