By Scott Gilfoid: With No.1 WBC contender Alexander Povetkin saying to the WBC that he won’t be ready to fight in January, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) will be fighting on January 16th against an opponent still to be determined at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder will be fighting the highest ranked WBC contender they can get, according to his trainer Jay Deas. This means that Wilder’s next fight will be against one of these lucky contenders:
By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) is going to need to put a sock in it for a while and wait his turn for an eventual title shot against the talented and athletic WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs).
Earlier on Wednesday, the World Boxing Council approved Wilder for a voluntary defense of his WBC title for January 16th 2016. Wilder doesn’t have an opponent yet, but it’ll be one of the WBC’s top 15 contenders. #7 WBC Artur Szpilka and #12 WBC Chris Arreola are two of the names that have been mentioned as possibilities for Wilder.
By Allan Fox: WBC Silver heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) retained his title tonight in stopping the over-matched former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (31-2, 17 KOs) in a cut stoppage on Wednesday night at the Basket-Hall Arena, in Kazan, Russia. The fight was halted in the 12th due to a cut under the left eye of the 35-year-old Wach. The Polish fighter wasn’t hurt other than a cut.
Povetkin suffered a bad cut over his left eye earlier in the fight. The cut obviously means that Povetkin won’t be ready to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in January.
Overall, it wasn’t an impressive performance for the 36-year-old Povetkin, because he couldn’t do much with what in practical purposes was a punching bag in front of him in the slow, lumbering Wach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmyUwh-m6jk
By Jim Dower: Using his sharp punches to the head and body, #1 WBC heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) dominated the bigger 6’7 1/2″ Mariusz Wach (31-2, 17 KOs) in beating him by a 12th round knockout on Wednesday evening at the Basket Hall Arena in Kazan, Russia. Povetkin, 36, kept his WBC Silver heavyweight title with the win. The fight was stopped in the 12th by the advice of the ringside doctor, who determined that Wach’s cut over his left eye was too severe for the fight to be allowed to continue.
By Allan Fox: 36-year-old former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) weighed in today for his title defense of his WBC Silver belt against Poland’s Marciusz Wach (31-1, 17 KOs) on Wednesday night at the Basket-Hall Arena, in Kazan, Russia.
Povetkin weighed in at 227.7 pounds, but he’ll find himself outweighed by 28 pounds when he gets inside the ring tomorrow night against the 6’7 ½” Wach, who weighed in at 255.7lbs. Povetkin has found himself facing much heavier fighters in the past in wins over the likes of Hasim Rahman, David Bostice, Patrice L’Heureux and Nicolai Firtha.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) says his plans are for him to defeat the 6’7 ½” Mariusz Wach (31-1, 17 KOs) in their scheduled 12 round fight this Wednesday on November 4th, and then move forward to defeat the equally big 6’7” WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) next year in the first quarter of 2016, and then top it off by beating the 6’6” IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) in a rematch.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC Silver heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) will be trying to keep alive his hopes for a world title shot in 2016 when he faces 35-year-old former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (31-1, 17 KOs) this Wednesday night in what is supposed to be a tune-up fight for the Russian Povetkin at the Basket-Hall Arena, in Kazan, Russia.
Povetkin is fighting the 6’8” Wach in order to get comfortable with what he’ll be seeing when/if he gets inside the ring with the monstrous-sized 6’7” WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) in early 2016.
By Scott Gilfoid: Fresh off his impressive 11th round knockout win over #11 WBC Johann Duhaupas on September 26th of last month, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) could be back in action as early as December against an opponent still to be determined.
Wilder’s manager/trainer Jay Deas wants to see the 6’7” Deontay fighting in December or January while they wait on the negotiations with #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin to be concluded. World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman said that Wilder needs to fight Povetkin next, as Wilder has already used up his voluntary defenses.
By Tim Fletcher: With his 11th round technical knockout victory over #11 WBC contender Johann Duhaupas (32-3, 20 KOs) last Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) has run out of voluntary defenses to take, and he now has to defend against his dangerous #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) in his next fight.
This is what World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman is saying. As long as the 36-year-old former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin wins his next fight on November 4th against former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (31-1, 17 KOs), then Wilder will need to fight him next.
By Gav Duthie: Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder 34-0 (33) kicked off 2015 in style bringing a ray of hope to a heavyweight division long forgotten by many fans. Through no fault of their own Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers cooled interest in the league of the giants with their unrivaled supremacy. Due to their powerful but tactical boxing displays and to some a lack of personality popularity of heavyweights have declined over the last 20 years.
Wilder the first American champion since 2006 (Shannon Briggs) looked like he might change all that with a dominant display against Haitian Bermane Stiverne. After a shaky defence against undeserving challenger Eric Molina followed by the news he is to defend next against a similar opponent in Johann Duhaupas 32-2 (20) instead of his mandatory Alexander Povetkin many are again questioning the star qualities of Wilder.