By Jeff Aranow: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) has his replacement opponent with unbeaten #10 WBC Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) stepping forward to face the 6’7” Wilder on February 25 on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Considering how little time there was for the “Bronze Bomber” and his management team to find a suitable replacement for Andrzej Wawrzyk, who was pulled from the card after testing positive for a banned chemical, it’s surprising that they were able to get someone as good as the 34-year-old Washington to step in to take the fight.
It’s a big risk for both Wilder and Washington, because neither fighter has much time to prepare for this fight. Wilder has faced tall fighters in the past in 6’7” Kelvin Price, 6’6” Nicolai Firtha and 6’5” Johan Duhaupas. Washington is more or less in the same talent level as those fighters. He’s a little bit better at using his height and reach than those fighters, and he has a nice jab that he likes to use to dominate his smaller opponents.
Washington had an easy time in 2016 in beating former heavyweight world title challenge Eddie Chambers by an eight round unanimous decision. The 6’1” Chambers couldn’t reach the chin of Washington to make the fight a competitive one, and it ended up being a one-sided affair for the most part.
This will be the first time in Washington’s five-year pro career that he’ll be fighting someone the same height as him in the 6’7” Wilder. It will also be the first time in Washington’s career where he’ll be giving up reach to an opponent. Wilder has a one-inch reach advantage over Washington.
Wilder is going to need to do more than jabbing in this fight for him to get Washington out of there. Wilder injured his right hand and bicep in his last fight against Chris Arreola in 2016, but he was still able to dominate the fight using his jab and score a stoppage with that weapon.
Against Washington, Wilder will probably need to use his right hand if he wants to get a knockout. Wilder is coming off of surgery on his right hand and bicep, so this will be the first time that he tests his hand out since the injury. Wilder has obviously been training hard with his right hand, so he should know by now whether it’ll hold up during the heat of the battle. But just because Wilder’s hand is fine in training doesn’t mean it’ll hold up under fighting conditions with the lighter gloves and the stress of a real fight.
Wilder gets excited during his fights, and his form breaks down and he starts to throw wild shots with improper form. If Wilder starts flailing at Washington like he did against Arreola in round 4, he might injure his right hand and arm again. Wilder needs to stay composed and think during his fights. He can’t lose control the way he did against Arreola without putting himself in danger of another hand injury. Wilder has already broken his right hand three times as a pro.
Is that a sign of improper form or does he just have weak hand bones for someone as powerful as him? I think it’s a debatable question. A lot of boxing fans would point to the form that Wilder uses in throwing shots. He’s not always throwing his punches properly. When he’s under control, he seems fine, as his punches are thrown straight with proper form. But when Wilder gets excited, he starts flailing with his shots and hitting his opponents with wild slapping shots. When Wilder fights like that, he’s at risk of hurting himself. Unfortunately for Wilder, he seems to have at least one or two wild moments in each of his fights where he starts flailing with his punches.
“I know that I’ll be fighting Deontay Wilder in his backyard, but that adds more excitement to the fight for me,” said Washington. “I’m looking forward to going to Birmingham and coming away with a victory just like I did in my last fight there.”
Washington is a former college football player for USC. He took up boxing and has taken advantage of his huge size to win a lot of fights in a hurry. Washington’s best wins have come against Eddie Chambers, Jason Gavern, Ray Austin, Travis Walker and Nagy Aguilera. Washington has a controversial draw against Amir Mansour from 2015. A lot of boxing fans thought Washington lost that fight. It was a very controversial draw.
Washington did not look good at all in that fight. He seemed to lose his composure once Mansour began to hit him with big power shots in the fight. The scoring was odd. One judge had Washington winning by the score 97-93. The other two scored it 96-94 for Mansour and 95-95. It was not a good effort from Washington. He was exposed by Mansour, and saved from a loss by the scoring of the three judges. The decision was booed by the boxing fans that saw the fight. They thought Washington lost the fight.
Wilder should be able to take Washington out almost immediately if he goes after him in the early rounds. Washington does not have the experience that Wilder has, and he doesn’t have much in the way of punching power to keep him off. The only thing that Washington has going for him is his height, reach and his jab.
As I already mentioned, Washington’s size will be negated by the equally big Wilder on the night. This means that Washington is going to have to find some punching power somewhere or hope that Wilder suffers another hand/arm injury that leaves him a one-armed fighter like he was against Arreola. If it comes down to Wilder having to beat Washington with just a jab, I’m not sure that he can do it. Washington has a better jab than Wilder, and he’s quite capable of winning with just that weapon. Washington wins his fights based on his jab, and he’s comfortable winning that way. Another right hand or arm injury for Wilder will be disastrous for him against Washington.