The 38-year-old fighter previously faced criticism for declaring he wanted “a body” on his record and now he’s making his comeback in Saudi Arabia as the captain of Team Matchroom in their ‘5 vs 5’ event against Queensberry Promotions, he doesn’t feel he needs to retreat from his “killer” image any more.

He told Boxing News magazine: “They said how I wasn’t good for boxing because I wanted a body on my record.

“But now you get these people involved, the Saudis, and they said, ‘We want that monster back, we want that killer back, we want the man who speaks like that.’

“And when you have people like that who appreciate you for what that is, it makes you want to change back quickly.

“I’ve got the green light that I can be that and not be judged.

“I can be that and not be crucified. When I did it earlier, everybody crucified me, stuck me with thorns, and stabbed me.”

The sportsman’s decision to work alongside Eddie Hearn with Team Matchroom came as a surprise because of “years of disagreements” between them but Deontay is happy to make changes.

He said: “It’s a beautiful thing. Over years of back and forth, disagreements and different little things, life brings about a change and change is always good.

“When you look at it, you have to look at the landscape of right now and you’ve got some interesting guys, like the Saudis, who are in there changing everything about boxing; the way we promote it, the way we line up fights and all those different things.

“Why not have the change of being able to work with each other?”