By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) is being rumored to return to the ring on June 20th in Las Vegas, Nevada. There isn’t an opponent picked out yet, but they’re looking at three potential options for the 6’7” Deontay.
The fight, if it takes place, will be televised on one of the major free networks on Premier Boxing Champions, according to RingTV.com. Former three division world champion Adrien Broner could also be on the card. He’d been talking about fighting in Cincinnati, Ohio, but there’s now a possibility that he could end up fighting on the same card as Wilder.
It’s unclear which of the two would be in the main event, but my guess is Broner due to him being a former three division world champ. Wilder could soon be one of the biggest things in boxing if/when he adds IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s scalp to his resume.
As for who Deontay could be fighting on June 20th, it’s going to be one of the top 20 contenders. There are so many interesting options for him such as Manuel Charr, Lucas Browne, Andy Ruiz, Tony Thompson, Eric Molina, Artur Szpilka, Chris Arreola, Mark De Mori, and Carlos Takam. It’s going to likely be a showcase fight, so I would expect the likes of Charr, Browne, Ruiz or Thompson might get the call. Deontay matched against a slugger would be perfect because boxing fans can see Deontay unleash his power.
In Deontay’s last fight against former WBC heavyweight belt holder Bermane Stiverne, Wilder defeated the strong-chinned champion by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision. Stiverne took a lot of hard shots to the head, and surprisingly he was able to finish the fight on his feet. Stiverne was hurt at least three times in the fight. If not for his strong punch resistance, I think he would have been finished off in the 2nd because Deontay was unloading huge bombs on him.
It’s important that Deontay not only win his next fight but also look good in doing so because he could get a big fight in the near future against Wladimir or Fury. Deontay needs to keep knocking his opponents out in order to increase interest in a fight between him and Klitschko or Fury.
This Saturday night, Deontay plans on being in attendance at Madison Square Garden in New York to watch Klitschko face unbeaten Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs). The fight will be televised on HBO Championship Boxing and they are likely to talk about a potential Wilder-Klitschko fight, and pan the TV cameras on Wilder sitting in the crowd.
If Wladimir gets past Jennings, he’ll then be fighting either Fury or Shannon Briggs next. I don’t see Wladimir taking a fight against the dangerous Wilder next, not when he’s got a couple of easy title-milking fights available to him against the likes of Fury and Briggs. That’s easy money for Wladimir to take those fights first, and once they’re out of the way he might face Deontay. It’ll really depend on a couple of things. If Deontay is looking too good, then I don’t see Wladimir taking the fight. If Wladimir has other good paying fights available, I believe he’ll continue to milk his titles before he faces what I believe is his biggest challenge in the division in facing Deontay.
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