Deontay Wilder: The world is mine!

By Boxing News - 04/07/2015 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) is in a great position for his first title defense of his WBC heavyweight title. After beating WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne by an impressive 12 round unanimous decision last January to capture the WBC title, the 6’7” Wilder is now able to make a voluntary defense of his title against pretty much anyone in the top 15 that he wants to.

Wilder isn’t limited to face a top guy, who may or may not be any good.
What this means for Wilder is that he’s got a great opportunity to fight whoever he or his adviser Al Haymon wishes. As such, there are a number of good serviceable heavyweight contenders that Wilder and Haymon.

Wilder literally has his pick of the top fighters in the World Boxing Council rankings to choose from for his next fight. He doesn’t need to necessarily choose the top No.1 guy because it’s an optional defense. However, it’s not a big deal even if Deontay does choose the No.1 fighter. In this case it’s former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, who was soundly beaten by IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2013. Since then, Povetkin has won his last two fights against Manuel Charr and Carlos Takam.

Here are some quality fighters I consider to be perfect for Wilder’s first title defense:

1. Manuel Charr
2. Lucas Browne
3. Chris Arreola
4. Tony Thompson
5. Artur Szpilka
6. Steve Cunningham
7. Mike Perez
8. Andy Ruiz
9. Dereck Chisora
10. David Price
11. Antonio Tarver
12. Joseph Parker
13. Francesco Pianeta
14. Shannon Briggs
15. Kubrat Pulev

Any one of these guys would be perfect for Deontay’s first defense. I personally think Charr, Ruiz, Browne and Chisora would be ideal heavyweights for Deontay to choose from. I realize none of them has done anything to deserve a world title fight against the likes of Wilder, but it would still make for an interesting fight due to those fighters having a little bit of power on their shots. They would make it interesting from start to finish. Chris Arreola would be a nice opponent as well for Wilder because he would be looking to slug with Deontay from start to finish. It would be a great fight to see.

Lucas Browne would be another interesting opponent due to his punching power. He’s a big puncher, but his defense is pretty much nonexistent. If you throw Browne in the ring with Deontay it’s surely going to lead to sparks flying from start to bloody finish. However, I can’t see Browne being able to take more than one or two rounds of Wilder’s big right hands before he would ultimately succumb from the concussive power. The only question I have about Browne is whether he’d be willing to fight Wilder. I mean, Browne hasn’t faced anyone I consider a good fighter since he turned pro, and I’m not sure that he would want to get inside the ring with a devastating talent like Deontay. It’s safer for Browne to go in another direction.



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