By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight sensation Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) has heard a lot about how his opponent this Saturday WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) will be looking to counter him with left hooks and right hands each time Deontay comes within punching distance in their Showtime televised fight, and Deontay doesn’t see how the 36-year-old Stiverne will be able to connect with his shorter punches.
Deontay doesn’t plan on letting Stiverne get close enough to connect on any of his power shots in this fight because he’s going to keep him at arm’s length by fighting smart.
”Stiverne won’t even be able to get close enough to land a punch… #wilderstiverne #january17 #andthenew. Vegas, here I come,” Deontay said on his twitter.
Deontay’s reach is only three inches longer than Stiverne’s, at least on paper. However, I believe it’s closer to six inches, because Stiverne’s arms appear to be very short and he’s obviously going to have major problems trying to land his shorter power punches if Deontay opts to stay on the outside and use his jab and height to control the fight. What hurts Stiverne is that most of his power shots are the shorter variety.
Stiverne likes to throw a lot of hooks at close range, and he’s not particularly good at straightening out his left and right hands to throw the longer punches that Deontay is known for. Stiverne lives and dies by his ability to lure one of his opponents within a couple feet of him so that he can load up on his short hooks.
If Deontay chooses to stay on the outside and lance Stiverne with jabs, then this fight could turn out to be a very, very one-sided affair with Deontay playing keep away. If Deontay is able to jab Stiverne’s face at will for 8 or 9 rounds in order to soften him up, Deontay can then unload on his power shots after Stiverne’s face is swollen up in the latter part of the fight.
That would be the smart way for Deontay to take this fight, as Stiverne wouldn’t have the arm reach to land any of his shots. It might not be as pretty as many of Deontay’s fights have been, but it would be the best way for him to avoid getting hit by any of Stiverne’s big power shots.
Stiverne would still have the power, but he wouldn’t have the delivery system to use his own power due to Deontay fighting a smart fight by using his reach instead of him leaving himself open for Stiverne’s counter shots.
A lot of boxing fans would be surprised if Deontay were to alter his fight game by going from being a slugger to that of a boxer for this fight. I don’t think anyone believes that Deontay can do that, because many of them see him as an all-out slugger. But he’d really open some eyes this Saturday night on January 17th if he went into the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and transformed himself into a jabbing machine like Wladimir Klitschko. Stiverne would be nearly defenseless and Deontay would win the WBC heavyweight title the easy way.
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