By Scott Gilfoid: Now that the fight between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin is dead in the water after Povetkin’s positive drug test for the banned substance Meldonium, Deontay’s co-manager Jay Deas says the 6’7” talent will be back inside the ring at the end of summer in September against an opponent still to be determined.
Contrary to what Povetkin’s promoter is saying about the Wilder-Povetkin fight being postponed, it’s been canceled says Deas. They’re now looking at other options for Deontay’s next fight.
There are a number of good quality heavyweights that can step into the place left open by Povetkin. The WBC will likely be the one that decides who the big punching Deontay faces, because his mandatory defense is due at this point.
The WBC won’t likely let Deontay take another voluntary defense for his next fight because he’s already had three of them since winning the WBC title last year in January 2015.
Here are the likely opponents that the WBC will select from for Deontay’s title defense in September:
1. Bermane Stiverne
2. Johann Duhaupas
3. Andy Ruiz
4. David Haye
5. Bryant Jennings
I don’t believe Haye will take the fight with Deontay because he’s targeting a fight against 44-year-old Shannon Briggs in September to get ready for a title shot against IBF champion Anthony Joshua. Haye can probably make more money fighting Joshua in an all UK type of affair than he can in risking his hide against Deontay. As long as Haye can get a decent cut of the UK PPV loot from Sky Box Office, a fight between him and Joshua makes a lot of sense and will surely be the one that he looks to take.
Wilder vs. the rotund Ruiz would be a horrible fight to watch because Ruiz is so slow, so hittable and so flawed that it would likely be too easy for the WBC champ. However, it’s doubtful that the WBC will need to go that far down in their list of contenders before they find someone that is willing to fight Deontay. I can’t see Stiverne saying no to a second fight against Deontay.
Stiverne has been consistently rated at the top of the WBC’s rankings for the last couple of years. When he’s not been the WBC champion, he’s been rated at the top. I’m just wondering how much longer the WBC will continue to have Stiverne at the top. If Deontay beats Stiverne again, will the WBC stubbornly keep Stiverne at No.1 or will they make some adjustments to reflect what’s been happening with his career as of late and put some other guys that are winning fights at the top position? I’m just saying. It just seems weird to me to see Stiverne at number one with the WBC after him losing his title to Deontay in January 2015 and having fought only once since then in beating fringe contender Derric Rossy by a narrow 10 round decision last November.
Those guys will clearly be the ones that are asked by the WBC if they’re interested in fighting Wilder starting with Stiverne and working downward. If Stiverne turns down the fight, then it’ll move to Duhaupas, Ruiz, Haye and Jennings. Kubrat Pulev, Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam are all working with another sanctioning body to become IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s mandatory challenger so they won’t figure in for the Deontay lottery.
Deontay was supposed to be defending his WBC title against his #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin next Saturday on May 21 in Moscow, Russia. However, Povetkin’s positive test for the banned drug Meldonium has led to the fight being postponed by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. While he still hasn’t canceled the fight altogether, Wilder’s co-manager Jay Deas says the fight is definitely off because of Povetkin’s positive drug test and they’re going to look for another opponent to fight in the next four months in September.
“They conducted themselves in a cowardly way and should be punished for their actions. If they were scared they should’ve (not) wasted time (and let) it be known. This is a dangerous sport, and it’s OK to be afraid of me. Hey, I am the champion,” said Deontay about Povetkin’s team in an interview with the tuscaloosanews.com.