By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KO’s) is ready to face WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KO’s) once Stiverne’s promoter Don King contacts Deontay’s manager Al Haymon to start setting up the fight. Deontay likes the fight and he sees himself knocking Stiverne out in the 1st round like he’s done with 18 of his previous 31 opponents. It’s incredible to even think about. A fighter with 18 knockouts in the 1st round and with 31 consecutive knockouts on their resume.
Wilder, 28, is the WBC mandatory challenger to Stiverne’s title after obliterating Malik Scott in 1 round. The WBC already said that Stiverne must fight Deontay next and he can’t take a unification fight or an optional title defense.
Deontay feels that Stiverne is made to order for him because of the Canadian’s career-long habit of hanging back on the ropes waiting to try and counter his opponents. Stiverne doesn’t pressure his opponent the way that shorter fighters of his size normally do against the bigger heavyweights.
“I see this fight being an easy fight for me to be honest,” Deontay said. “(Stiverne) keeps his head down, I’m a tall fighter. He likes to stay back, of course he likes to counter but my arms are so long, you’re going to have to get out of your comfort zone to fight a fighter like me. I’m predicting a first-round knockout.”
Unless Stiverne comes out with a completely new look for the Deontay fight, which is probably not possible given Stiverne’s age of 35, he’s going to have a lot of problems trying to take Deontay’s right hands. Deontay will bounce right hands off of Stiverne’s jaw one after another, and Stiverne will have to be able to withstand those shots in order to throw anything back at Deontay. It is one thing for Stiverne to have taken the slapping shots from Chris Arreola, but it’s another thing entirely to be getting hit by Deontay’s crushing right hands and left hooks.
Stiverne is too much of a reactionary fighter who waits until he’s hit before he throws anything back. But against Deontay, once Stiverne is hit, it could be all over. Arreola was able to shake Stiverne up in their recent fight last month in May, but Deontay hits a lot harder than Arreola.
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