Deontay Wilder suffers broken hand in win over Stiverne

By Boxing News - 01/19/2015 - Comments

wilder092(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Allan Fox: It’s reported that Deontay Wilder suffered a broken right hand in his win over WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wilder had X-rays done on his right hand and the fracture was noted on his ring finger of his right hand, according to the Tuscaloosa News. Wilder will be meeting with hand surgeon Dr. Joseph Sherrill this week to have him examine his hand and come up with a treatment plan.

Wilder previously was operated on by Dr. Sherrill back in 2009 for a hand problem.
Wilder says he hurt his right hand in the 4th round after hitting Stiverne with a big shot to the head.

Wilder blamed Stiverne’s hard head for him having hurt his hand. But the hand injury was something that could have been predicted because Wilder was throwing his punches with a lot of power, and he was aiming for Stiverne’s forehead instead of his jaw or nose area.

“He was going to be off to heal up after a very difficult fight. Now is a great time to get everything fixed,” Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas said via the Tuscaloosa News. “We don’t expect any chance in the schedule, which would have him back in the ring in the summertime.”

As long as Wilder doesn’t need surgery on his ring finger, it should heal fairly quickly so that he can return to the ring for his first title defense in the summer. Wilder has five months to go before he would be back in the ring to fight.
Wilder was extended for the first time in his career by Stiverne, and that surprised a lot of people.

They figured that Wilder would have been able to get Stiverne out of there by the 4th round like he’d done in his previous 32 bouts before last Saturday. Stiverne had never been knocked down before during his career and his only stoppage loss was a controversial 4th round TKO defeat to Demetrius King in 2007 in a fight where Stiverne was stopped on his feet.

Wilder knocked Stiverne down in the 2nd round, although he failed to get credit for the knockdown by referee Tony Weeks. Wilder’s hand injury kept him from throwing with the kind of power that he’d done in his previous fights.

Since the injury occurred so early in the fight with it taking place in the 4th, Wilder couldn’t load up like he’d done in his other fights as much. He was forced to use his jab to control Stiverne and get the better of him.



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