Time to step up for Deontay Wilder

By Boxing News - 01/18/2016 - Comments

1-wilderszpilka (8)By Paul Lam: Polish heavyweight contender Artur Szpilka gave a good account of himself on Saturday night against WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder, fighting on even terms before getting knocked out cold in the ninth round by a huge Wilder right hand which he never saw coming. It was a genuinely scary knockout, the kind which made you fear that someone might have just been killed in the ring.

Thankfully Szpilka regained consciousness in the ring, albeit after a tense couple of minutes of being laid out motionless on the canvas while onlookers waiting with bated breath. He spent the night in hospital as a precaution, with initial MRI and CT scans coming back clean.

Wilder was ahead 78-74 on two cards and 77-75 on the third at the time of the stoppage. These scores seem too wide to me. Going into the 9th round, I had the fight at no worse than a draw for Szpilka. His southpaw stance and awkward, herky-jerky movement gave Wilder plenty to think about from the opening bell and, just before the stoppage occurred, he was actually coming on, pressuring Wilder and backing him up, as he had done at various points throughout the fight. Neither fighter was particularly active, but the punch stats were fairly close: Wilder landed 75 of 250 punches and Szpilka 63 out of 230.

YouTube video

Before Wilder outpointed Bermane Stiverne over the distance to capture the WBC crown last year, he had never fought beyond four rounds. Now he has gone nine, eleven and nine rounds in his last three fights. That’s the difference between the ‘E/D level’ and the ‘C/B level’ of heavyweight boxing. From the perspective of Wilder and his team, finally getting some much-needed rounds and having to battle against a bit of adversity should be welcome. On the other hand, although Szpilka, Johann Duhaupas and Eric Molina are one or two levels above the fodder-type opponents that Wilder was fed for much of his career, they are still not the calibre of opponent who a legitimate heavyweight world champion should have to struggle against. Wilder exemplifies modern day boxing’s paradigm of the ‘developing champion’. He is big, talented, athletic, and his punching power is undeniable, but in spite of all this and the title belt around his waist, he remains a significant work in progress. Against Szpilka, he often found himself off balance, throwing wild shots, being made to look distinctly uncomfortable in the face of pressure and visibly struggling to work out the problem stood in front of him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRGV-GkBds0

Although you’ve got to give Szpilka credit for exceeding expectations in his performance, the competitive nature of the fight attests more to Wilder’s status as a flawed and still-underdeveloped champion. Szpilka was better on paper than Wilder’s previous two challengers – a win over a faded Tomasz Adamek still counts for more than anything Molina and Duhaupas have accomplished in their combined careers – and proved as much in the ring, but he is not a top heavyweight. Bryant Jennings completely outclassed him almost every step of the way en route to a 10th round stoppage victory in 2014. Jennings himself was stopped for the first time in his career last month by the talented Cuban Luis Ortiz.

If Wilder had been in the ring with Ortiz on Saturday, I believe that he would have been in a world of trouble. Wilder admitted after the fight that Szpilka had been a tricky opponent, citing the fact that he hadn’t faced a southpaw in three years. Like Szpilka, Ortiz is a southpaw, but the former Cuban amateur standout is a far classier operator than the one-time Polish football hooligan. He’s bigger, stronger, more powerful and much more skilled. I think that Ortiz would be a more difficult proposition for Wilder than Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko or his mandatory challenger, Alexander Povetkin. After watching his performance on Saturday night, I don’t even believe that victory for Wilder against Povetkin is any sure thing. Szpilka, for his part, said that he believes Povetkin would ‘kill’ Wilder if they fought. I personally see it as a 50-50 fight. Wilder is the bigger and more athletic man with better one punch knockout power. Povetkin has the edge in experience, boxing fundamentals, strength and durability. If the fight happens he will be arguably the first ‘A level’ heavyweight that Wilder has faced in his career.

Since losing to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013 by wide unanimous decision in an ugly fight, Povetkin has fought like a man possessed, stopping Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam, Mike Perez and Mariusz Wach in succession. He turned up in person to watch Wilder fight on Saturday night and will probably be encouraged by what he saw. Stylistically, Povetkin is a different fighter to Szpilka. He doesn’t possess the same kind of speed or mobility, but he is a far better technician and ring general. He also likes to come forward and we have seen that Wilder does not react well to pressure and being forced onto the back foot.

Hopefully we will be seeing Wilder-Povetkin next, wherever it ends up being held. Should the fight go to a purse bid, Povetkin’s backers have the financial clout to bring it to Russia although Wilder for his part has spoken out against the possibility, preferring to defend his title at home. There is speculation that Wilder might go on a paper chase by opting to fight the newly-crowned IBF heavyweight champion, Charles Martin, who won via unsatisfying injury retirement against Vyacheslav Glazkov in the co-feature fight on Saturday night and is an even deeper shade of green than Wilder is. Hopefully this will not happen; it would be rightly seen as an embarrassment by the majority of boxing fans. On the other hand, Povetkin offers a compelling fight due to him being a legitimate top tier heavyweight and the interesting clash of styles and, should Wilder prevail, it will go a long way towards silencing his critics.



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