(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight belt holder Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) will be enjoying a 20 pound weight advantage tomorrow night when he enters the ring against challenger Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) in their grudge match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Stiverne, 36, weighed in at 239 pounds on Friday at their weigh-in in Las Vegas. Deontay came in at 219 pounds, which is lean for him. Wilder obviously trained hard during camp, but he might not have eaten enough to keep the weight on during the camp.
Whatever the case, Deontay is only 3-5 pounds off his normal weight, so it’s not a big deal for him to be a little lighter than normal.
Deontay Wilder is a lot like the late Corrie Sanders, a tall fighter who typically weighed in the region of 225 pounds, but who had power that 250 pound fighters could only dream of. In this case, Deontay Wilder punches well above his weigh due to his tall 6’7” frame, as he’s able to get lots of leverage in his shots that heavier – but shorter – fighters aren’t able to get.
Deontay says he not only wants to beat Stiverne on Saturday night, but give him such a bad beating that he’ll his life will be in danger afterwards.
“I’m going to be the people’s champion and I’m going to be around for a very long time. I’m going to beat him to within an inch of his life,” Wilder said.
You can tell it’s personal with Deontay when he starts talking about beating a guy to within an inch of his life.
Stiverne has said some things about Deontay that has struck a nerve, and he now not only wants to make Stiverne his 33rd knockout victim, but he wants to physically hurt him and leave him in bad shape afterwards. But with the kind of punching power that Deontay has, it’s not likely that Stiverne will be able to hang around long enough to take the type of beating where he’s badly hurt. Deontay tends to knockout his opponents quickly with right hands, and he they don’t stick around so that he can give them a methodical beating.
“Eyes don’t lie. I could see in his eyes, he’s not ready for this. Deontay ain’t going to do squat. This is the last time you’re going to hear about Deontay Wilder,” Stiverne said.
That’s kind of the theme with Stiverne. He thinks he’s going to turn Deontay into another Michael Grant, and finish his career with a bad knockout that erases his name from the minds of boxing fans. I don’t know that Stiverne has the kind of talent to do that.
In looking at the two fighters, it seems pretty clear that Deontay is going to be the much more elusive and quicker fighter on his feet come Saturday night. He’s tall and gangly, and that’s going to make it tough for the heavier, and slower Stiverne to be able to land his power shots in this fight.
Full weights on the card:
Deontay Wilder 219 vs. Bermane Stiverne 239
Leo Santa Cruz 121.5 vs. Jesus Ruiz 122
Fidel Maldonado Jr. 139 vs. Amir Imam 140
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