By Jim Dower: Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (15-0, 15 KO’s) continues with his slow climb to the top when he takes on cruiserweight Reggie Pena (6-6, 1 KO’s) on Friday night in a scheduled 6-round bout at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in Indio, California. Wilder, a 2008 Olympic heavyweight bronze medalist for the United States, has been matched very carefully since he turned pro in 2008. He only had a small number of fights in the amateur ranks despite capturing the 2007 National Golden Gloves and the Bronze medal in the Olympics.
Wilder ideally should have stayed in the amateur ranks a couple of more years rather than coming out so quickly, as he still looks incredibly green at this stage in his career. What he accomplished as an amateur appears to have been done based on his powerful right hand alone because Wilder didn’t have a jab or any power in his left hand. He did it all with his right hand alone. Not much has chanced in that department since he turned pro.
Wilder is still running over his over-matched third tier opponents using his right hand instead of developing his other weapons. His footwork looks poor, his jab is pretty much nonexistent and his left hand remains weak. His opponents have been terrible compared to the kinds of guys that most former Olympic medalists face.
On Friday night, Wilder will be facing a guy that is a cruiserweight and that’s kind of disappointing, because Wilder isn’t getting much competition from the weak opponents he’s being put in with and this stage it may take many years before he’s finally good enough to contend for a title. Wilder doesn’t look good when his opponents throw shots back at him and he tends to take the shots flush without covering up. At this rate, Wilder may build up an impressive record of 30-0 before long and may get a title shot based on his record alone but I see him having a lot of problems unless he starts developing and facing better opposition.
Comments are closed.