By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder says he’s still interested in fighting #1 World Boxing Council contender Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) despite him having tested positive for a banned substance in the past. The unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) says he’ll give the 36-year-old Povetkin a beating once they face each other.
As of now, the WBC is still yet to determine what they’re going to be doing with Povetkin. Wilder wants the WBC to hurry up and make a decision, but they’re taking their time. Wilder is talking like he’ll go ahead and fight Povetkin just to get it over with. However, right now, Wilder is coming off of surgery for a broken right hand and torn right biceps muscle.
The hand is expected to be recovered in six weeks, but the biceps might need six months. As such, Wilder won’t be fighting until 2017. He says he doesn’t want a tune-up. But that will likely be determined by his management and the WBC. It would be crazy for Wilder to come off of the type of injuries that he suffered and take on a dangerous opponent like Povetkin.
“I would love to fight Povetkin. It would light my fuse even more,” Wilder said to the latimes.com. “They knew I was a big threat coming to their country, that I wasn’t going to be an easy test, so they did what powers do — to use illegal, banned substance to give him an extra boost because they knew he was going to need it. I’m mobile, hostile, I throw more punches. … He will get a real beat-down. Right now, I’m going to rest and recover and let God have the last say-so.”
Wilder suffered his injuries in his latest title defense against Chris Arreola last July in an 8th round knockout win. Wilder threw a lot of hard right hands in the 4th round, and he appeared to throw his shots with bad form. Instead of throwing straight shots, Wilder was clubbing with his right hand, and it’s quite possible that was a cause of his hand and biceps injury.
Wilder can probably make more money fighting Povetkin than most of the top heavyweights in the division. It makes sense for Wilder to take that fight for the money and to get it out of his hair. There are some boxing fans that think Wilder is afraid of Povetkin. By taking him on and showing the boxing fans that he’s willing to face the Russian fighter, he can quiet down his critics. It would be big news if Wilder were to take the fight with Povetkin next year, because it would be the biggest fight of Deontay’s career. Wilder needs to make sure that his hand and biceps are completely healed before he comes back because it’s no use if h takes the fight if all he’s going to have working for him is his left hand for 12 rounds. Deontay probably can’t beat the 6’2” Povetkin with just his left hand.
“Once I heal up, I’m coming back in full force,” Wilder said. “I’m coming to win all the belts. My goal is to be the unified champion. I don’t need no tune-ups, no warm-ups. I’m going straight back to where I’m at.”
Wilder will need to step it up a level whether he faces Povetkin or not by facing better opposition than what he’s been fighting since he won the WBC title last year against Bermane Stiverne. The boxing fans want to see Wilder face the higher level guys, so he’s going to need to start giving the people what they want. Thus far, Wilder has defended his WBC title four times in beating Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Arreola. Those are decent quality opponents. but there are better contenders out there like Luis Ortiz, Alexander Ustinov, Bryant Jennings, and Kubrat Pulev. Even a rematch against Stiverne would be a bump up in quality of opposition for Wilder. It’s his promoters that do the selecting of opponents for Deontay, so you can’t blame him for fighting less than the best fighters. However, I see that changing once Wilder faces Povetkin and then goes after the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Those are the other belt holders that Wilder needs to beat for him to become the unified heavyweight champion.