By Scott Gilfoid: As I already predicted, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) will be defending his title next month against #8 WBC Artur Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) on January 16th at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York.
The news was just released moments ago. The fight will be televised by Showtime Championship Boxing. It seemed pretty obvious that Wilder was going to be fighting the 26-year-old Szpilka with the way that Wilder and his promoter Lou Dibella got worked up to a full lather about the rumors of the fight taking place.
When I saw how worked up the two of them got at the mere mention of Szpilka’s name, it was painfully obvious that he was the main No.1 target for the fight once Vyacheslav Glazkov took the back door out of the fight with Wilder in heading for the safety of the IBF title.
I guess the idea of Dibella and Wilder not wanting Szpilka to know that he was the main guy so that they could get him at cheaper price than they would have been able to get if he knew he was the main guy. I also knew that it was Szpilka when I heard that they had only offered Shannon Briggs $400,000 for the fight, according to Briggs.
This is another stay busy fight for the 6’7” Wilder, as he wanted to get a third voluntary defense under his belt before he defends against #1 WBC challenger Alexander Povetkin next year. But it was also important for Wilder to face someone who mimics Povetkin’s style somewhat and in selecting Szpilka, they’ve got a good opponent that is close enough to Povetkin for the fight to be useful.
Of course, it would have been much better for Wilder to face #3 WBC Glazkov, because he’s a perfect copy of Povetkin, but what can you do when a guy is looking for a softer fight against someone a lot more beatable than Deontay. Glazkov will be fighting American Charles Martin for the vacant IBF title and he may find out that it’s not going to be an easy task in trying to beat him to win the strap.
“You have one of the biggest Polish populations around the Barclays Center and in the New York/New Jersey area, and whatever you want to say about Szpilka, the guy is rugged and a brawler,” Wilder’s promoter Dibella said to ESPN.com. “He won’t stink the joint out. He’ll make a good fight.”
Szpilka will definitely take the fight to Wilder and look to take his head off with every punch he throws. In terms of punching power, I rate Szpilka as the second best puncher Wilder has faced in his career behind former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne, who Wilder easily beat last January. But Szpilka is a little more of a brawler than Stiverne, and more willing to go out on his shield than him.
Wilder is going to have to try and get this guy out immediately if he wants to stay out of harm’s way in this fight, because he can’t let this fighter hang around too long because he’ll be shooting for a knockout with each punch.
Szpilka, a Polish fighter, surprised a lot of boxing fans when he defeated Tomasz Adamek by a 10 round unanimous decision last year in November. Szpilka took the fight to Adamek and batered him for an easy win. In Szpilka’s last fight, he defeated Yasmany Consuegra by a 2nd round knockout. Szpilka also has a win over Mike Mollo in 2013 in an exciting knockdown brawl where both fighters hit the canvas before Szpilka finished him off in the 5th.
Glazkov would have been the guy that Wilder was facing if not for Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko last week. That win planted some ideas into Glazkov’s head for him to go after that title with the hopes of fighting Fury. Unfortunately for Glazkov, Fury wasn’t about to give up his option to fight Wladimir next for a lot more money, so that left Glazkov about to make likely less money than he’d have gotten against Wilder to fight Charles Martin for the vacant IBF title.
It could backfire for Glazkov because not only will he likely wind up with less money than he’d have gotten for a fight against Wilder, but he’ll probably get knocked out just the same way. To me, the smarter move for Glazkov to take would have been to stick it out with the negotiations with Wilder and take the fight with the hopes of getting lucky. I mean, it would be far better for Glazkov to get knocked out by a talented fighter like Wilder than a mere prospect like Charles Martin. I’m just saying.
Of course, I can see things from every side, and know what is smart and what is totally bone-headed. What Glazkov did was a totally bone-headed move, and I can only wonder who came up with that crazy idea to fight Martin instead of Wilder.
“It’s frustrating,” Wilder said to ESPN.com. “What’s frustrating is having an opponent that’s there [Glazkov] and having had a deal for two months, and all of a sudden, they see an opportunity and they take the easier route. I think it’s disrespectful and unprofessional, in my opinion. I was looking forward to whupping [Glazkov] and whoever else. I’m looking to unify the division, and that’s my main goal and my mission. Whoever steps in that ring is going to get punished. I guarantee it. I promise you guys I will unify the division.”
It’s alright, Deontay. They know not what they do. Glazkov obviously thought he was going to get a fight against Fury. Why he thought that I have no idea. Glazkov should have opened his eyes and seen that Fury was going to take the rematch with Wladimir rather than fight for pennies against Glazkov.
More than that, Glazkov should have realized that he would have no better chance of beating Charles Martin for the vacant IBF title than he would against Wilder for his WBC title. What Glazkov should have done is taken the big money fight against Wilder and gotten more respect from the boxing fans than he would in losing to the little known Martin.
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