(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Scott Gilfoid: After having beaten up and captured the WBC heavyweight title with a win over Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs) last Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) sees this as just the beginning for him.
Wilder’s not satisfied and resting on his laurels like you see with some fighters who replay their victory over and over again instead of getting back in the gym and looking to accomplish more with their careers.
Wilder, 29, is now looking forward to his next fight, and he wants to unify the titles by whipping IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko this year. Wilder has already called out Tyson Fury for his next fight by telling the media that’s the fight he wants next, but it doesn’t look realistic that fight will be happening in 2015.
In the 2nd round, staggered Stiverne with a storm of punches that dropped him onto the canvas. While falling, Stiverne grabbed Wilder and pulled him down with him. The referee Tony Weeks was confused by the action and failed to rule it as a knockdown when it was clear as day that Wilder had knocked Stiverne down. In between rounds, Stiverne had his head down and he looked badly stunned from the shots he’d taken and from the knockdown.
Wilder took Stiverne’s best punches in the fight and showed no signs of ever being hurt. Wilder answered all the questions that boxing fans had about his chin in this fight.
Wilder put on a jabbing clinic in beating Stiverne after having hurt his right hand in the 4th round. Wilder was forced to rely on his jabs to control Stiverne in the last half of the fight, as his right hand was out of commission for the most part.
“This is just the beginning,” Wilder told Al.com. “It’s a great feeling to be the WBC champ of the world, but there’s more to gain from this. I feel good but I’ve got to keep going. I have a lot more to gain. You’ve got one of the most prestigious belts in boxing with the WBC. It doesn’t get any better than this. It feels good, but I’m ready to see what’s next,” Wilder said.
Wilder will most likely need to be content in defending his title against the best possible opponent for his next fight in four months or so. He says he wants to fight 3 to 4 times in 2015, so he’s going to likely be back in the ring by May or June to defend his WBC title for the first time. With Tyson Fury showing little interest in getting in the ring with Wilder, it means we’re probably looking at an opponent like Alexander Povetkin, Lucas Browne, Mike Perez, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Manuel Charr, Andy Ruiz or Chris Arreola as Wilder’s first defense of his title.
Povetkin would be a good opponent, but someone like Browne, Ruiz or Arreola would be better because those are all sluggers. Having Wilder defend against a puncher would be ideal.
“I knew I had the mechanics and the tools to box, to be a boxer, to do whatever we needed to do. We just needed the right opponent in front of me,” Wilder said. “Stiverne was a very tough guy. He brought a lot out of me. I had fun. When it was time for me to fight on the big stage, I put on a big performance. It was great, but I’m looking forward to the next guy and bring home more belts to Alabama.”
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