Olympics-Boxing-Wilder chases medal for little Naieya

PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - American heavyweight Deontay Wilder had never thrown a punch three years ago and he is now chasing an Olympic medal for his three-year-old daughter, Naieya.

Wilder was a 19-year-old playing college basketball when he found out he was to become a father. His little girl was born with a spinal condition and Wilder was told she might never walk, a prediction she has since defied.

Now 22, the towering Wilder quit school, worked two jobs to support his family and figured out boxing might be a good way to earn the money he so badly needed.

First of all, he had to learn how to box.

That did not take long and less than two years later, he came out of nowhere to win the Golden Gloves title in 2007, in only his 16th bout. In his 21st, he secured a ticket to the Beijing Games.

"To make a long story short, I had a little girl, got out of college and got two jobs to support my child", Wilder told the American boxing team's website (www.usaboxing.org).

"I started talking about boxing, word got out, I found a gym and it has been on ever since."

The fighter from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, knows all about the United States' proud tradition with such great Olympic champions as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard.

He knows as well that the American boxers, who have won a record 47 Olympic gold medals, have been going through a lean patch, partly because their best men are impatient to turn professional.

Wilder is aware that experience is vital in amateur boxing and that others in the U.S. team, notably world champions Rau'shee Warren and Demetrius Andrade, are better placed than him to win a medal.

The young father does, however, possess a devastating right hand, a desire to become the latest in a series of great Olympic boxing stories and an inspiration called Naieya.

"My little girl has been my biggest influence ever since she was born", he said. "She influences me even more once I found out about her condition. She serves as my motivation in life." (Editing by Robert Woodward)