By Jeff Aranow: Last week, IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) and his promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that they had signed a multi-fight deal with Showtime Sports to have his fights televised in the United States.
The signing by Showtime looks to be a shrewd move to put them in a strong position to have a big future fight between Joshua and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs), who is also signed with Showtime Sports.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) flew out last Saturday from Atlanta to Manchester, England to begin training in the UK for his May 21 fight against mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) at the Khodnyka Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia. Deontay wanted to train in Europe so that he could get acclimated to the time difference and not be in such a shock when flying over to Russia for the fight.
If Wilder had chosen to fly over to Russia days before the fight, he likely would be jet-lagged from having had to sit down for such a long period of time on the plane while flying over.
By Scott Gilfoid: Peter Fury, the trainer for IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is predicting an easy knockout win for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 Kos) in his title defense against Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 in Moscow, Russia.
Peter Fury thinks the 6’7” Wilder will be too big for the shorter 6’2” Povetkin, who will be giving up five inches in height and a whopping six inches in reach.
That’s a significant reach advantage for Wilder, but when you factor in that he likes to fight tall and move around the ring, it’s going to make it all but impossible for Povetkin to compete with a giant sized heavyweight like Deontay.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) is bulking up for his title defense against Russian Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 at the Khodynka Palace in Moscow, Russia.
Deontay, who routinely weighs in approximately 228lbs for his fights, now wants to bulk up to 250lbs. He wants to gain 20 pounds partially to help his game and the other part for his image. The 6’7” Deontay likes the idea of being in the neighborhood of 250. Deontay started his career at just 207 pounds in 2008 after winning a bronze medal in the Olympics that year.
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.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) has one month to go before he defends his WBC title against his mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 next month at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia. Wilder already knows how he plans on fighting Povetkin after watching the Russian fighter’s one-sided 12 round decision loss to Wladimir Klitschko three years ago in 2013.
Deontay and his trainer Jay Deas noted that Wladimir had success by standing tall, holding and leaning a lot against Povetkin. They don’t plan on doing the leaning and holding like Klitschko did, but they do plan on fighting tall to get the better of Povetkin.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) isn’t too worried about being royally robbed next month in his fight against his #1 WBC challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21, because Wilder feels that he’s going to knock the 36-year-old Russian out so that the judges don’t have any say so in this contest.
Wilder will be fighting in the 36-year-old Povetkin’s home country at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia. Unlike a lot of fighters who would have some serious concerns about being potentially robbed of a decision, Wilder is confident that he’ll be bringing his own judges to the fight in the form of his two powerful fists that will take care of any questions about who the deserving winner of the fight will be.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) has a little more than one month to go before he defends his title against the aging 36-year-old Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia.
Some boxing fans are picked Povetkin as the favorite due to his superior experience. However, Povetkin has never beaten anyone of Deontay’s class before, so you have to forget about all the wins that Povetkin has had over smaller fighters like Eddie Chambers, Ruskan Chagaev and Mike Perez.
By Scott Gilfoid: IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is picking WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) to beat his mandatory opponent Alexander Povetki (30-1, 22 KOs) in their fight in two months from now on May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia.
Fury sees the 6’2” Povetkin as being too little and too fragile-chinned in order to beat a big and highly athletic fighter like the 6’7” Wilder, who also has big punching power with his right hand. Fury notes that Povetkin hit the deck repeatedly in his 12 round decision loss to former world champion Wladimir Klitschko three years ago.
By Jim Dower: There’s a possibility that the clash between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin will have IBF junior middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (23-0, 18 KOs) vs. Austin Trout (30-2, 17 KOs) added to the undercard in a Showtime split site telecast for May 21.
The Charlo-Trout fight would be taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, whereas the Wilder vs. Povetkin fight will be staged at a still to be determined venue in Moscow, Russia.
The Charlo-Trout fight hasn’t been announced as of yet by their management, as negotiations are still taking place for that fight.