Wilder: Of course I want Fury and Joshua

By Boxing News - 07/17/2016 - Comments

1-Deontay Wilder vs Chris Arreola - July 16_ 2016_Fight_Ryan Hafey _ Premier Boxing Champions (12)

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) did his job last Saturday night in turning back the threat from the powerful Chris Arreola (36-5-1, 31 KOs) in stopping him after round eight after his corner pulled the plug on the fight at the beautiful Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wilder said after the fight that he wants the British heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Wilder wants to take their heavyweight title straps from both of them. Wilder, 6’7”, says he’s not sure if they want him. Well, given the fact that neither of them never seem to bring up Wilder’s name in conversation, I’d say that they have no interest in sharing the ring with the lightning fast Alabama native.

It’s hard to blame them though. After seeing what Wilder did to the 35-year-old Arreola last night in beating him with just his left hand, it shows you how lethal Wilder is. Wilder suffered a broken right hand in round for an injured bicep on the same arm. It was all Wilder could do to get his right hand up to defend himself in the last eight rounds, let alone use it to throw punches.

“Of course I want Tyson Fury and of course I want Anthony Joshua. The question is do they want me?” said Wilder after the fight. “I wanted to give you guys a knockout but I broke my hand and tore my muscle in my right hand. Chris is a tough man so I had to fight like a champion does and display my great jab all night. I floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee with my left all night. I’m sorry.”

There’s no reasons for Deontay to be sorry for battering Arreola with one arm instead of two. Injuries like that happen. The problem that Deontay has is his power is so incredible that the bones and muscles on his right arm tend to give way when he loads up on his shots with everything he’s got. He can minimize that, of course, by throwing with perfect form with every punch instead of clubbing with his shots.

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There was an instance in the 4th round where Wilder wind-milled on Arreola after hurting him. If I were to isolate when his injuries to Deontay’s right arm took place, I would guess during that sequence. Wilder’s punching form broke down completely as he threw some amateurish shots. They were still quite effective, but they might not have been the proper punches to throw in terms of health wise.

“My goal is to unify the division. I’m one of the baddest, hardest-hitting heavyweights in the business and I’m right here from Alabama, baby. I came a long way and whoever has those belts, that’s who I want,” said Wilder. “As you can see, it doesn’t matter if I’ve got a broken hand and pulled muscle, I’m still going to fight because that’s what champions do. I don’t play boxing.”

Wilder might have permanently scared Fury and Joshua away with his performance against Arreola last night. I mean, if Wilder could do that kind of damage to a fighter with just his left hand, imagine what he would do if he had the full use of his right hand last night. It’s scary to think about.