By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) admits that he felt pain from his fractured right hand each time he would slam a right hand into the face of WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs) in their fight earlier this month on January 17th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilder broke the 4th metacarpal bone in his right hand in the fourth round after hitting Stiverne with shot that landed near the top of his head. From that point on, Wilder says he had to fight with pain each time he used his right hand.
Wilder says he wasn’t about to stop throwing rights because he didn’t want Stiverne to know he was hurt because he would then have been all over him like a shark smelling blood in the water.
“Every time I hit him with my right hand, the pressure and impact of the punch, I definitely felt it,” Deontay said via Al.com. Wilder said. “All that pounding, my hand was so swollen. I knew I (broke) it,” but I had to put my poker face on. That’s what boxing is all about.”
Fortunately for Wilder, he was able to use his right hand enough to carry him to victory in winning a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-109, 119-108 and 120-107.
Wilder won’t need surgery to repair his broken metacarpal bone. His trainer Jay Deas sees the healing process taking approximately five weeks. From there, they’ll sit down together and make a decision in how to face next.
Ideally, someone like Tyson Fury would be a nice opponent for Wilder to face, but setting up a fight against him may prove to be impossible because he seems to be more interested in waiting on his guaranteed title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko rather than risking his hide against Wilder. I mean, Fury will probably make more money fighting Wilder, but he seems to be someone who has made a decision already and he’s not likely to change his mind at this point.
Wilder will most likely need to be content in defending his title against the best available contender that is willing to fight him. After the way he shined against Stiverne, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wilder has few challengers that are interested in facing him. With his 6’7” frame, powerful right hand once it’s healed, and superb jab, Wilder is more than a handful for any heavyweight in the division, including Klitschko. The way that Wilder pounced on Stiverne in the 2nd round, there’s not too many heavyweights that would have survived that round.
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