(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME®) By Allan Fox: Challenger Artur Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) wants to not only emerge victorious on Saturday night in his title fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs), but to win in a spectacular manner in front of his many Polish fans that will be showing up to give him support at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Szpilka and his trainer Ronnie Shields may not want to admit it, but they may need a knockout for them to win the fight. It’s going to be next to impossible for the shorter 6’3” Szpilka to beat the taller 6’7” Deontay by a decision, because he doesn’t have the same reach or the same boxing skills that Wilder has going for him.
“There’s no pressure on me. The pressure is on Deontay because I just want to be a world champion, he already is,” Szpilka said. “I’m not just here to get my paycheck. Everyone who knows me, knows I come to fight. I don’t just want to win; I want to win in spectacular fashion.”
Szpilka is going to need to counter Deontay each time he looks to land a shot for him to have a chance of winning. Szpilka is a decent counter puncher, and this could be a fight where he’s able to capitalize on that ability.
The problem that Szpilka may have is that Deontay punches with so much power and speed, it’s going to make it difficult at times for Szpilka to counter his shots unless he can time him so that his own shots land before Deontay’s hit their mark. The last thing you want is to have Deontay hit you first because he hits too hard, and he could end the fight with a single shot early on, if he is able to land at will in the fight.
“I used to have respect for him [Deontay], but after what he has said about me, I have a problem,” Szpilka said. “You have to prove it in the ring. He has to do it in the ring, not outside the ring. He can say whatever he wants, but we will see it in the ring.”
Szpilka has looked vulnerable in some of his fights. If Deontay is overlooking him, it might be due to Szpilka getting knocked out by Bryant Jennings and almost knocked out by journeyman Mike Mollo. Those are fighters that Deontay would likely have little problems beating. The fact that Szpilka had such a hard time against those fighters tells you that he’s not quite A-level.
“I will fight hard and after the fight you will hear ‘The New Heavyweight Champion of the World,” Szpilka said.
Fighting hard is a good idea for Szpilka. In fact, it might be his only chance of success against Deontay. Szpilka needs to be aggressive right off the bat and look to end the fight in the first minute of the fight in my estimation.
If Szpilka lets Deontay get into a grove like his other opponents have, he’s not going to last very long against him. Deontay has too much power, and he plays to the crowd. If the fans are cheering Deontay on, he’s going to get comfortable in there and start dropping big bombs on the easy to hit Szpilka.
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