By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” is on the verge of facing one of his toughest tests of his 9-year pro career in unbeaten Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. Negotiations between the two fighters are in the works for a fight on November 4 I Brooklyn, New York, according to RingTV.com.
Unbeaten heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller, a New Yorker, will be on the undercard.
The one obstacle that is slowing the progress to the Wilder-Ortiz fight getting made is WBC mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne, who wants his title shot against Wilder. Stiverne is ranked No.1 with the World Boxing Council, and he doesn’t wish to be pushed aside so that Wilder can face the Cuban Ortiz on November 4.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is working on getting the issue with Stiverne taken care of somehow so that Wilder can face the 38-year-old Ortiz first before fighting Stiverne. A lot of boxing fans are already excited at the idea of seeing Wilder defend against Ortiz, as it would give them a chance to see two of the best heavyweights in the division square off. Ortiz already is the #1 mandatory challenger to WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Ortiz could simply wait for that title shot if he wished, and he wouldn’t have to do anything to get the crack at Joshua. That’s not the way Ortiz ticks. He wants to take risks with his career, and fighting Wilder would give him a chance to win the WBC title. If Ortiz can capture the WBC belt, a fight between him and Joshua would be a much bigger fight. It would give Ortiz more money as well, being that he would going into the fight as a champion and not a challenger.
Stiverne was named the WBC mandatory challenger last January following his fight against Alexander Povetkin failing to happen due to the Russian fighter testing positive for a banned substance.
The interest from the TV networks in the U.S for a second fight between Wilder and Stiverne is nonexistent, according to RingTV. Wilder already easily beat Stiverne in a one-sided 12 round fight 2 years ago in January 2015. The fight was so one-sided that it was like watching paint dry. It’s not surprising that none of the networks in the States want to televise another mismatch involving Deontay and Stiverne.
If Stiverne had kept himself active and been fighting on a frequent basis against the top fighters in the heavyweight division, then it’s possible that one of the networks would be eager to televise the Wilder-Stiverne 2 rematch. Unfortunately, Stiverne has fought only once in the last 2 years, and that was against journeyman Derric Rossy on November 14, 2015. That fight was almost 2 years ago. It’s unclear why Stiverne hasn’t been fighting for the last couple of years. The bigger question is why on earth does the WBC have Stiverne rated No.1 with their organization? The WBC is quick to move a champion’s status to emeritus champion if they fail to defend their title on a regular basis. Why doesn’t the WBC make changes to their contenders when they don’t fight for a prolonged period of time? I’m just saying.
If Wilder vs. Ortiz can get made, it would be great news for boxing, cause this is an excellent match-up. It would set the table for a big unification fight between the winner of the Wilder vs. Ortiz fight against Anthony Joshua. It would make that fight much bigger. The boxing world would finally get a chance to see Joshua fight a heavyweight in his prime with talent. Joshua almost lost his last fight against 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who dropped the British heavyweight to the canvas in round 6. Ortiz and Deontay are capable of keeping Joshua down if they put him on the canvas. They wouldn’t make the mistake of letting Joshua survive the round the way that Wladimir did.