By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder (28-0, 28 KO’s) has just a week to go before his crucial bout against former WBO heavyweight champion Siarhei Liakhovich (25-5, 16 KO’s) on Friday, August 9th at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in Indio, California.
This is going to be a good scalp for Deontay, because Liakhovich has got a name and is well known among both hardcore and casual boxing fans.
What makes this fight so important for the 6’7” former 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Deontay is that if he looks really good in blasting through Liakhovich, it’ll give him a big push up in the heavyweight rankings. Deontay is currently ranked #6 WBA, #7 WBO; so a victory over a big name like Liakhovich could possibly move Deontay to top 3 status or better.
That would mean that Deontay would need just one or two good wins to lock himself in as the mandatory challenger for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Deontay is under no illusions about what he has to do in order to get a title shot against the 6’6” Wladimir. Deontay realizes that Wladimir will never pick him out from the stack of heavyweight contenders like he’s done in recent fights against fringe contenders Francesco Pianeta, Jean Marc Mormeck and Mariusz Wach.
That’s not going to happen. Wladimir has already used Deontay as a sparring partner in one of his past camps, and he knows how dangerous he is. Wladimir has tasted Deontay’s right hand power, and he’s not likely going to give him a shot at his title unless he’s the mandatory and he absolutely has to take the fight.
For Deontay, it’s important that he not only beat Liakhovich, but beat him convincingly. Liakhovich has lost his last two fights to Robert Helenius and Bryant Jennings, but he was able to extend both of those fighters until the 9th round before they stopped him. It would be a big feather in Deontay’s cap if he were to take Liakhovich out well before the 9th round.
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