There are two sides to Deontay Wilder. The first, and most famous, is the ferocious, tattooed streetfighter who is currently crashing huge punches into pads held by his trainer Jay Deas at his Alabama training base, ahead of Sunday's heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury.
The second is only revealed when the pads have been taken away, the gloves have been stripped off and he is sitting, quietly, on a battered plastic fold-up chair a few metres from the ring, still glistening with sweat.
It is then that Wilder - a man who has knocked out all 39 opponents in his 10-year career - reveals that behind the bravado and brawn there is a gentle man who likes nothing more than spending time with his seven children. There is even a surprising admission.
"If they ever invent something that will allow a man to carry a child, I want to sign up for it," he says. "I really do. I would say to my girl: 'Let's have a baby, and I'll carry it'. I would love to experience what women go through to bring life into this world.
"That's why women are the most powerful thing on the earth. When we've got people who bleed for seven days every month... come on, man! But I really feel I'm the mother goose. I kiss my kids six or seven times a day. They are all individuals. I love them."
Wilder, who has four boys and three daughters, is deadly serious when he says that he is a father first, and fighter second. Indeed, he insists he would not even have become a boxer, not reached world championship level, or have defended the WBC crown seven times, were it not for his daughter Naieya, born 13 years ago with spina bifida, a split in the spinal column which can leave sufferers confined to a wheelchair.
"She's the reason I got into boxing. They say you don't know what love is until you have a child. And that is so true. She's another fighting spirit," he says.
"I have a tattoo on my hand and it says 'Road to Success'. It's because I used to go to the doctors office and she would get treatment like needles stuck in her, or be going through surgery. It made me want to cry because my daughter was in pain. That's me, she's part of me. It was like it was happening to me. But I couldn't help her.
"Naieya's been through so much and it's motivation. If she can go through the suffering, the heartaches, and the pain, then what I do is easy. We feed off each other's energy. We're holding hands as I'm walking through the ropes, it's like I'm supporting her and feeding off of her, as she supports and feeds off of me.
"When I'm not a fighter I'm a father, and when I'm not a father I'm a fighter. Not only do I do it for Naieya, I do it for all my children. So when one single man fights me, he not fighting just me. He's fighting me plus my children.
"When I look at my children and say I'm going to do something, or tell them something will be done - it will be done. And daddy is going to win."
WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder works out for the media. Photo /Getty
It is strangely moving to see this imposing giant of a man - who stands 6ft 7in tall and weighs in at 220lbs - so prepared to reveal his more sensitive side.
"I wish people could this side of me more often," he says. "My world is amazing. I don't let certain things get to me and I let people assume about me. But as long as I'm civilised and can balance between being a fighter and a father, then I'm fine.
"People will never know who Deontay Wilder is. I'm a loving person. I'm a beautiful soul, spirit - body and mind. I love doing things for people. I'm the type of person who can be happy for others, even if they're doing better than me."
This fight with Fury represents a major step towards establishing Wilder's legacy, with victory ensuring wider recognition in the United States, a country where interest in the standing of the heavyweight division has declined rapidly since the days of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman through to Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
"This is my moment, this is my time," Wilder insists. "In America, it's so hard to stand out, because we are competing against so many sports. But this is my opportunity because it is Tyson Fury. Everybody is going to be there and I can't wait."
For all the posturing and goading that marked their world media tour spanning London, New York and Los Angeles eight weeks ago, there is plenty of mutual respect, even if Wilder's self-belief is unshakable.
"My mind is clear. I know what I'm capable of doing. I'm know what I'm going to do on the night of the fight. I'm very unpredictable. I'm going to feel the energy when we get in there, whether it's pressure or patience. After that, that's when you'll see some magic coming. You won't know when it's coming, but it's coming.
"I've admitted it many times, a lot of fighters are crazy. He's crazy, but there's a sane kind of crazy. He likes to have fun too. It's nothing personal at the end of the day. With boxing, it's about a mentality to switch from the person you are, into an ultimate killer."
For all the justifiable hype around Saturday's meeting in Los Angeles, another spectre looms large over the contest - that of Anthony Joshua. Wilder is grateful that there were none of the promotional shenanigans around the Fury fight that he experienced over six months with Joshua over a unification fight.
Wilder was perfectly prepared to meet Joshua in a fight in London, Cardiff, or elsewhere. There was a time he craved it, but he knows it will happen next, after Fury, as he sets his goals for 2019.
"My goal is what I've always set out to do - to unify. After obtaining my first title my main goal was to unify. One champion, one face, one name. I won't stop until I get that.
"I want to be able to say I was the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. No man can say that at this moment in time. All the belts are in different places. We've got two champions now. No one can say it yet.
"I'll go anywhere. I'm a world traveller. I've got 39 KOs. Anthony Joshua with his style, with how he does it, he's an easy person to adjust to. He's not like me and Fury, he's not as mobile, flexible or agile. That's why I'm so confident. That's why Fury's so confident. We can beat him. One day it will happen and we will see.
"But for now, if you don't want to do it, then it's not going to happen. It's simple. If Joshua wanted to fight me it would have happened. If you don't want to fight it won't happen. I don't know how much more I can say."
Wilder wants to finish, however, with a final word on Fury, and a bout which could make or break the pair of them. "This is the time - the biggest fight of my career," he says, with quiet emphasis. "This is the one. This is the one that solidifies my name, especially here in America. America got a great man, America got a bad man in boxing. But one with a great heart."
