By Allan Fox: For WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s next defense against 35-year-old Chris Arreola, the two fighters will be tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency [VADA] to be tested for banned drugs all the way up until their fight on July 16 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
With the Wilder-Arreola fight being a little more than two and a half weeks to go, there isn’t much time for VADA to test the two fighters before they meet up next month. The Wilder-Arreola fight will be televised on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox and Fox Deportes. It should be an interesting fight for as long as it lasts.
One of these two fighters will likely be knocked out. Wilder has stopped the vast majority of his opponents he’s faced thus far in his eight-year pro career, but he’s not fought the type of opposition that some of the other heavyweights have.
Wilder has been carefully managed in putting him in with a lot of vulnerable heavyweights. The one guy that was dangerous for Wilder was Bermane Stiverne, but he didn’t have the height to compete. At 6’2”, Stiverne was giving away five inches in height to the 6’7” Wilder, and that was the main reason why he wound up losing to him by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in January. Arreola, 6’3”, is a little taller than Stiverne, but he’ll still be giving away four inches in height and seven inches in reach against Wilder.
The reach advantage for Wilder is going to be a huge asset if he can keep Arreola on the outside all night long, because he’s not going to be able to connect with his shots unless he can close the distance on him. Arreola’s best punch is his left hook, which he throws when he gets in close. Wilder doesn’t let guys get in close too often, so Arreola will need to create opportunities for himself to get in range to delier his big shots.
“Despite the short lead time to Wilder vs. Arreola, I am happy to report that VADA is in place as the anti-doping agency in accordance with the WBC Clean Boxing Program,” said promoter Lou DiBella. “VADA is a preeminent and reliable service and its relationship with the WBC evidences a commitment to a cleaner sport.”
Wilder also had testing by VADA for his fight against Alexander Povetkin, which ended up being canceled after the Russian fighter tested positive for a banned substance. It’s still unknown if/when the Wilder-Povetkin fight will be taking place. The World Boxing Council should be able to shed some light on that in the near future when they make a decision whether to let the fight between them go ahead of not. For Wilder, it would give him a huge payday if he were to fight Povetkin.
Wilder wants to fight the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko rematch. Wilder is also interested in facing IBF champion Anthony Joshua. Those are all fights that would give Wilder a big payday. Arreola can play the role of a spoiler on July 16 if he can pull off an upset to beat the 30-year-old Wilder.
Instead of Wilder getting a career high payday against Joshua or the Fury-Klitschko winner, it could be Arreola. He could probably retire off the money he would make against one of those fighters. For Arreola to get one of those fights, he must find a way of beating Wilder.