By Allan Fox: Deontay Wilder took advantage of the spotlight being on him on Saturday night in calling out IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua moments after defeating Bermane Stiverne by a 1st round highlight reel knockout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
(Photo credit: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME)
WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) did his part to keep himself in line for a unification fight against Joshua by knocking Stiverne down 3 times and getting a 1st round knockout.
Stiverne couldn’t get himself untracked. He came into the ring looking like he hadn’t warmed up properly. He didn’t even try and attack Wilder despite sporting a 34-pound weight advantage in the fight. In Stiverne’s first fight with Wilder in 2015, he was putting pressure on him the entire fight.
Stiverne came forward at all times looking to hurt him 2 years ago. Wilder won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but Stiverne looked dangerous at all times in the fight.
On Saturday night, Stiverne wasn’t trying to throw punches, and he looked like he wasn’t mentally engaged in the fight.
Stiverne was little more than a punching bag inside the ring for Wilder. Stiverne attempted to land nothing, and he ended up getting pounded by Wilder. Stiverne didn’t even try and throw punches sin the fight. It was an embarrassment that the World Boxing Council chose to rank Stiverne at No.1. Stiverne fought like he didn’t deserve to be ranked at all in the top 15.
In response to British promoter Eddie Hearn’s idea of him fighting Dillian Whyte in order to earn a unification fight against Joshua, Wilder said, “A king doesn’t chase the peasants. A king takes kings. I want Joshua. If he doesn’t give me the fight we have other plans. The world wants Joshua, the world wants Wilder, I want Joshua. Joshua come and see me baby. No more dodging, no more excuses. Make the date, don’t wait.”
Wilder will need to either accept the fight that Hearn has been pushing him to take in Dillian Whyte on February 3 or he’ll need to go in another direction with his other plans whatever those are. Now that Wilder has his mandatory defense out of the way against Stiverne, he can fight another voluntary challenger in the WBC’s top 15. There are some nice options for Wilder such as Adam Knowacki, Lucas Brown, Charles Martin, Dominic Brezeale, Mariusz Wach and Agit Kabayel. Any one of those fighters would be ideal for Wilder.
”I declare war upon you,” said Wilder in calling out Joshua. Do you accept my challenge? I’ve been waiting for a long time. I know I’m the champion. I know I’m the best. Are you up for the test?
Wilder might need to think about taking the money offered to him by Hearn to face Whyte. Hearn is ready to pay Wilder $4 million to fight Whyte. That’s good money for what could be a very easy fight.
