(Photo credit: Carlos Baeza) By Scott Gilfoid: It’s looking more and more like the new WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KO’s) will be steered around his WBC mandatory challenger Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KO’s) for the remainder of 2014. It’s quite possible that Stiverne will elect to take an optional title defense, as his powerful promoter Don King isn’t taking about putting him in with the 6’7″ Deontay.
It doesn’t really matter who Stiverne faces. If it’s not going to be Deontay, then you can bet that it’ll be a safe opponent, and definitely not IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Since Deontay is going to have some time to kill while waiting for his eventual title shot against Stiverne – or whoever winds up with the WBC title – then I’d like to see Deontay face Arreola in a stay busy fight to keep sharp while waiting for a title shot against the WBC title holder. I don’t rate Arreola as being any kind of threat to a fighter like Deontay, because Arreola is just too easy to hit and his chin doesn’t seem to be the same that it once was.
Arreola was dropped by guys like Travis Walker and Eric Molina in the past, but I think Stiverne took something out of him in his first fight against him last year in April when he knocked Arreola down with a hard right hand to the head. Deontay hits harder than Stiverne with every shot he throws, and he’s a lot faster in terms of hand speed. Deontay is capable of knocking Arreola out with each shot he throws, and it’s difficult to see Arreola being able to make it to the 5th round with Deontay teeing off on him with right hands to the head.
A fight between Deontay and Arreola would help build up a fight between Deontay and Stiverne for a later date. If Deontay can destroy Arreola, it would be the perfect setup for the Stiverne title shot. It would also be a proving grounds type fight for Deontay to earn the Stiverne title shot in a better way than in Deontay’s last fight against Malik Scott, who some boxing fans took issue with due to Scott folding immediately upon getting nailed with one of Deontay’s beautiful left hooks to the head.
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