By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) doesn’t plan on reinventing the wheel in his fight next month against former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia.
Deontay says he’ll use the same strategy that Wladimir Klitschko used in him beating Povetkin in their fight in 2013. Wladimir used his height and reach to fight tall and tie the shorter 6’2” Povetkin up in a clinch, keeping him from getting his big shots off.
If Wladimir had stayed stationary, Povetkin would have had a chance to KO him. Wladimir didn’t do that. He jabbed, pot-shotted, tied him up, and leaned on him all night long to win an easy 12 round unanimous decision in a mismatch in Moscow.
“Basically what [Wladimir] Klitschko did to [Povetkin] is that he stayed tall and he was the more aggressive guy,” Wilder said to premierboxingchampions.com. “That’s what I’m planning to do, is to stay tall and be aggressive.”
I doubt that Deontay will use clinching like Wladimir did because that’s a style of fighting that is not in his repertoire. Deontay is one of those guys that believes in entertaining the fans. He’s the closest thing that comes to Gennady Golovkin that the heavyweight division has right now, which is why he’s so popular in the United States right now despite having been a pro for just eight years.
It takes years and years for fighters to become stars in the U.S. It’s not like in other countries where a fighter is basically a star once they turn pro after the Olympics. In the U.S, you have to earn your stardom by winning a world title and then toiling away for many years. Even then, you might not become a star unless you have both talent and charisma. Deontay has both things going for him, so all he needs is to take a few more scalps before he becomes a major star too.
“Not at all and that’s the scary part about it. I haven’t even reached my peak yet and I’m still learning on the way up,” said Deontay.
No looking back. I'm only looking to the future and the future is looking GOOD!!! #Undisputed pic.twitter.com/Eoh3IkMvx9
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) April 22, 2016
Deontay is right about him not having reached his peak as of yet. He’s like a fighter that just turned pro in many ways with the way that he’s still getting better and better. It’s weird. He’s like one of those giant oil wells that just hasn’t quite started making big money yet. Deontay won’t get the big money until he faces the likes of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. If he can take both of their scalps, as well as Povetkin and Wladimir Klitschko, then Deontay will find himself a big star in the U.S. Those fights will take time, and Deontay might not ever get all of them.
I can see Wladimir, Joshua and Fury choosing not to fight Deontay if he looks too good in beating Povetkin. If that turns out to be the case, Wilder will need to be content fighting the likes of Luis “The Real King Kong” so that the two of them can fight it out for the rights to be seen as the best heavyweight in the division.