By Tim Royner: Dominic Breazeale (20-1, 17 KOs) sees his May 18th fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) as potentially his golden ticket to get a lucrative rematch against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) in 2019.
Breazeale, 33, thinks that Wilder is distracted with all his negotiations, and talk of wanting to fight Joshua and Tyson Fury. Breazeale plans on taking advantage of Wilder not being fully focused on their fight on May 18 on Showtime Boxing. The two fighters met earlier this week in a news conference to discuss their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder appeared to be trying his best to intimidate the 6’7″ Breazeale by trash talking him and staring him down. Breazeale wasn’t going for it. He talked trash back, and showed that he’s not going to be cowed by Wilder.
“I know my golden ticket to getting my rematch with Joshua is getting the WBC title, so I’m definitely coming to ruin the show, spoil the night,” said Breazeale to skysports.com.
Breazeale lost to Joshua three years ago by a seventh round knockout in 2016. Breazeale would be the first to admit that it wasn’t one of his best performances in his seven-year pro career. Breazeale had a tough time getting passed Joshua’s powerful jab and right hand to get close enough to land his own big shots. The power on Joshua’s shots kept Breazeale from being able to do what he had intended on doing in that fight. Breazeale has worked on his punching power since the Joshua fight, and he’s had great results in stopping his last three opponents Carlos Negron, Eric Molina and Izuagbe Ugonoh. Breazeale’s new punching power was evident in his war against Ugonoh (18-1, 15 KOs) in knocking him down three times in scoring a fifth round knockout over the hard hitting 6’5″ heavyweight. The shots that Breazeale was landing in that fight against Ugonoh would give Wilder and Joshua a lot of problems.
Few boxing fans are giving Breazeale a shot at beating Wilder, but this is definitely a match that he can lose. Wilder, 33, has shown to have chin problems in the past in fights against Luis Ortiz, Eric Molina, and Nicolai Firtha. Wilder was staggered by all three of those heavyweights, Breazeale hits as hard as Molina and Firtha. Breazeale could make it interesting if he lands some of his big shots on Wilder’s chin.
“He’s definitely going to pay the price for it,” Breazeale said about Wilder paying the price for being distracted. “If he’s overlooking me and moving on to the Joshua fight, he’s definitely going to pay a price for it.”
Breazeale has a shot at making a massive amount of money if he beats Wilder. Under that scenario, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing will likely immediately look to setup a unification fight between Breazeale and Joshua. Breazeale can make millions fighting Joshua, and then eventually giving Wilder a rematch.