(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) will be on a mission tonight to become the first American heavyweight world champion in the last nine years when he faces WBC heavyweight champ Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
This is a big deal for Deontay for a lot of boxing fans in the United States, because there hasn’t been a world champion in America since Shannon Briggs won a title in 2006. That’s a long, long time ago, and it’s hard to believe there hasn’t been a world champion from the U.S all this time.
With all the talented heavyweights in the U.S, you would think that someone would have picked up one of the straps during this time, but it’s been difficult with Wladimir Klitschko and Vitali Klitschko dominating the division.
“It will mean a lot. Americans been yearning for an American heavyweight for a long time. It will mean a lot for me to be the guy to bring the belt back. All this is built for me,” Deontay said via ESPN.com. “Athleticism alone is going to win this fight. I’m too fast, I’m too tall, I’m too long, I keep range. I’m stronger, everything. I’m so ready, man. They think it’s a game. I’m gonna show and give him a reality check.”
The fact that Deontay is talking about keeping the fight at range suggests that he’s not going to let the shorter 6’2” Stiverne try and crowd him in order to land his big power shots. And, of course, Deontay isn’t going to do anything foolish like try and fight Stiverne on the inside like Chris Arreola was doing in his two fights with Stiverne.
If Deontay is talking about keeping the fight on the outside, then that tells you this is something he’s been working on a lot during training camp against sparring partners of similar size and style as Stiverne. One of those sparring partners is Demetrius King, the guy that knocked Stiverne out in the 4th round in their fight in 2007.
With Wilder bringing the WBC heavyweight title back to the U.S, you can picture there being parades in his hometown in Alabama, as well as tons of chances for Wilder to take advantage of him being the new American champion. The last popular U.S heavyweight champion was Mike Tyson, who became a major media star after taking over the heavyweight division in the mid-1980s.
Tyson made a huge fortune in the sport before bowing out. But unfortunately, Tyson didn’t accomplish as much as he could have due to him being overwhelmed by the success that he had. His career could have been better than it was. Never the less, Tyson was a highly popular champion in America, and if Deontay can pick up a world title, he could soon find himself riding the crest of fame.
Beating Stiverne on national television on Showtime tonight will be a big deal, and nice feather to put in Deontay’s cap. It’s a great scalp for Deontay to add to his collection, and another knockout would be his 33rd consecutive KO. That would be a really nice thing to add along with the WBC title.
Comments are closed.