Born in Castleford, Yorkshire, Wilders first had success as an amateur, winning the ABA bantamweight title in 1995.[4]
He made his professional debut in March 1996 with a fourth round stoppage of Neil Parry. In February 1998 he beat Marcus Duncan to win the vacant BBBofC Central Area bantamweight title.
After beating Ady Lewis in a final eliminator he beat Francis Ampofo on points in October 1999 to take the vacant British title.[4] He made a successful defence in January 2000 against Steve Williams.
In March 2000 he faced Kamel Guerfi for the vacant IBO World bantamweight title, winning on points.[4] He successfully defended the title four months later against Paul Lloyd. Later that year he was prevented from boxing and stripped of his titles after a problem with a routine brain scan.[5]
He regained his licence and after splitting from promoter Frank Warren after a string of cancelled fights, in January 2003 beat Fabien Guillerme in Nice to win the vacant European bantamweight title.[5][6] Two months later he defended the title against Frédéric Patrac, the fight ending in a technical draw after an accidental clash of heads left Wilders badly cut.[7] In June 2003 he made a second defence against David Guerault. Guerault knocked him out in the seventh round, inflicting the first defeat of Wilders' career.[8][4]
In August 2004 Wilders attempted to regain the IBO World title when he challenged the unbeaten Silence Mabuza in Temba, South Africa;[9] Mabuza knocked him out in the fifth round.
Wilders returned in May 2005 at super bantamweight when he was beaten by Esham Pickering,[10] and in October was due to face Bernard Dunne for the IBC super bantamweight title, but had to withdraw.[11] He decided to retire but reversed his decision and faced Dunne in what was his final fight in January 2006, Dunne stopping him in the sixth round.[12]