Mike Perez back with a win over Darnell Wilson

By Gavin Duthie - 02/08/2015 - Comments

By Gav Duthie: After a turbulent 2014 following the Magomed Abdusalamov tragedy Cuban heavyweight Mike Perez (21-1-1, 13 KOs) temporarily stepped away from the top level limelight with a stay active fight against Darnell Wilson 25-19-3 (21) on February 5 at The Hangar, Costa Mesa, California, USA.

He secured a second round technical knockout victory with a confidence boosting win possibly before he tries to make inroads with the WBC and newly crowned champion Deontay Wilder. Hopefully this win can help Perez start to put the past behind him. 

Mago Aftermath

The current condition of Abdusalamov is that he is now out of hospital and back home with his family. He has made amazing improvements since waking from his induced coma but will forever need constant medical care and is a shell of his former self. There is no doubt Mike Perez has also been greatly affected by this. He hadn’t won a fight since that night before Friday, luckily scraping a draw with Carlos Takam before losing a split decision to Bryant Jennings despite being in complete control in the early rounds. Trainer Adam Booth’s usual calming influence can be beneficial in the corner between rounds but not in Perez case that night as if he was anymore laid back he would have fallen over. The impression I get is that Perez hasn’t really wanted to be in the ring at times recently. Perez threw 812 punches in 10 rounds against Abdusalamov but only 571 in 12 rounds against Jennings. His desire wasn’t there last year but hopefully a win versus Wilson will help this return. 

Darnell Wilson

Don’t let his record fool you Wilson is no slouch. He is a top journeyman who only fights good opponents. In the last 5 years he has faced Grigory Drozd, Alex Leapai, Denis Boytsov, Edmund Gerber and Vyacheslav Glazkov and scored victories over former cruiserweight king Juan Carlos Gomez and three fights ago exposed 36-0 heavyweight prospect David Rodriguez knocking him out in four rounds. Of course this was a stay busy fight for Perez but any win breeds confidence. His second round victory is the quickest anyone has ever stopped the reliable Wilson. 

WBC no 1. Contender

The fact that Bryant Jennings has opted to bravely fight Wladimir Klitschko rather than take up his mandatory option with Wilder means Perez is back in the mix. When the WBC published their entire list of mandatory opposition they stated if Jennings chose to fight Klitschko then it would be likely that they would order a final eliminator bout between Mike Perez and Alexander Povetkin. Povetkin is firmly back on track after his loss to Wlad as he beat highly rated duo Manuel Charr and Carlos Takam both by knockout in 2014. 

List of possible opponents for WBC champion Deontay Wilder

Manuel Charr – There are rumours he may face Charr for his voluntary defence. Obviously I don’t see how getting knocked spark out by Povetkin in 7 rounds warrants a title shot but he is still a decent name. 

Tyson Fury – I think both Fury and Wilder would rather face each other rather than Klitschko especially at this stage in their careers. Fury is ranked #5 with the WBC at present so unless a specific mandatory is imposed on Wilder I can easily see this fight bing sanctioned. 

Perez v Povetkin

I can see this being a great fight if it comes off. Both are hard as nails and will fight in the pocket. I still see Povetkin as the second best heavyweight around and a win over Perez would help prove that. 



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