By Scott Gilfoid: With each and every fight, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) feels that he’s coming closer and closer to becoming the guy that takes over for unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he retires from boxing.
The talented 6’7” Deontay believes he’s got the charisma, talent, power and hand speed to carry the U.S boxing world on his powerful shoulders to become America’s next mega-pay-per-view star. Wilder, 29, notes that the heavyweight division has historically been by far the most popular division in the sport in America.
Deontay realizes the lack quality heavyweights have led to fighters like Mayweather from the lower weight classes emerging as the more popular fighters in the sport. But Wilder sees himself as bringing back the popularity to the division with his dominating all of his opposition.
Wilder has what some boxing fans see as a stay busy fight this Saturday night on June 13th against the big hitting Eric Molina (23-2, 17 KOs) on Showtime Championship Boxing from the Bartow Arena, in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The fight of course isn’t a huge one compared to some of the potential bouts out there for Wilder such as a fight against Wladimir Klitschko, and England’s Tyson Fury, but it’s still going to be more than interesting enough to appeal to the casual boxing fans in America.
You can expect the Wilder-Molina fight to bring in huge ratings, and a quick KO victory for Wilder will only increase his popularity in the States.
“Floyd Mayweather seems to be coming to the end. Boxing needs me to take over,” Wilder said via the Dailymail.co.uk. “I believe I can be the exciting new face. There is nothing better than the heavyweights to keep the boom going. The fans love the big men. Historically ours is the sport’s marquee division and it’s great for the game that it is coming back to life.”
It’s still early yet for Wilder to take over for the 38-year-old Mayweather, as there are other guys that are still ahead of Wilder in terms of popularity in the U.S like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Manny Pacquiao. These aren’t Americans though, but they’re still arguably ahead of Wilder. That can change very quickly if Wilder continues to take scalps and beats the top guys in the sport.
My guess is Wilder could be within 15 to 20 wins from being a huge PPV attraction along the lines of Mayweather. Wilder can increase the speed of him taking over for Mayweather if he fights frequently by getting in the ring six times per years. It don’t matter if Wilder isn’t always beating the very top fighters in the division. As long as he stays busy and keeps wiping guys out within four rounds like he’s been doing since he turned pro in 2008, I think he has a very good chance of taking over for Mayweather. I’d say within three years, Wilder could very well become the U.S’s top PPV attraction if he stays unbeaten and if he can fight five to six times per year during that time.
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