By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder (28-0, 28 KO’s) could be taking a significant jump up in competition in the near future if he gets past his opponent for tomorrow night Sergei Liakhovich in their fight this Friday night at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio, California.
According to RingTV, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer wants to match Deontay against the winner of the September 6th fight between former heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola and Seth Mitchell. This would be a pretty big step up from Liakhovich, if Deontay were to fight Arreola.
Mitchell is probably a big step down from Liakhovich, because he seems to have a chin problem. Arreola would make it interesting for Deontay because he’s got good power, good size, and a decent chin.
Deontay would likely have to pound Arreola until the referee pulled the plug on the fight like he did when Arreola took a beating against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in 2009 in a 10 round stoppage loss.
Schaefer told RingTV “We k now that we have Deontay Wilder and Sergei Liakhovich this weekend in a hell of a fight. [It’s the] biggest step up for Deontay Wilder so far. And if he comes through this fight, I think that the potential for his next fight may be the winner of the Chris Arreola against Seth Mitchell.”
I think Arreola is one of the more advanced heavyweight contenders in the division. He’s clearly a top five heavyweight, and I think he’d destroy guys like David Haye, Dereck Chisora, Magomed Addusalomov, and Kubrat Pulev. So if Deontay can beat Arreola, then he’s pretty much ready for a title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko at that point.
I would say Vitali as well, but I think that guy is in the shutdown mode and looking to 1 or 2 fights against less than dangerous opponents before retiring. Deontay would be too dangerous for Vitali, and I can see the Ukrainian saying yes to that fight.
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