Wilder – Stiverne with a peak audience of 1.34 million viewers!

01/21/2015 Showtime Boxing

Main Event Becomes The Highest Rated Bout On Any Premium Network In The Past Year;
The Three-Fight Telecast Draws The Highest Rating on SHOWTIME® In More Than Two Years;
All Three Fights On The Live Telecast Rank In The Top-20 Most Watched Bouts On Record For The Network

SHOWTIME Sports garnered a record audience for Saturday’s 2015 SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING premiere telecast headlined by newly minted WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder in his breakout win over Bermane Stiverne. The main event ranks as the highest-rated fight on any premium network in the past 12 months while the entire three-fight telecast becomes the highest rated on SHOWTIME in more than two years. The Jan. 17 telecast attracted the second largest audience since 2004* behind the Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout event from Dec. 2012. (*since Nielsen began to separately measure premium television multiplex channels)

Bermane Stiverne OK After Being Hospitalized Saturday Night

01/20/201501/20/2015 Showtime Boxing

Two nights after being hospitalized following his loss to unbeaten challenger Deontay Wilder on SHOWTIME® from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, former WBC Heavyweight Champion Bermane Stiverne, his Hall of Fame promoter, Don King, and his trainer, Don House, hosted a press conference late today at the MGM Grand.

Here’s what they had to say:

PROMOTER DON KING

“We called this press conference because the Bermane we saw on Saturday night was not the Bermane we all know. Deontay Wilder did a very good job; this is not a press conference for excuses, it is for fact. The doctors at the hospital of the UMC said that he had a severe case of dehydration. His muscles were not working and they thought he had blood in his urine, so they took some tests and held him in the hospital until this morning.

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Deontay Wilder, Miguel Cotto, & Saul Alvarez!

01/19/201501/19/2015 Vivek Wallace

Jeff H. (Liberty City, FL): Deontay Wilder served me a huge bowl of ‘crow’. I was really impressed with the way he performed and don’t see too many people walking thru his power the way Stiverne did. How did you rate his performance and what would you like to see next for him?

Vivek W. (ESB): For starters, I’d like to say congratulations to Deontay Wilder and Team Wilder on a job well done. What a way to start the new calendar year of Boxing! What I loved most about this fight was that it put the spotlight on a man who said he was “ready” for the next level, as well as the burden of proof which required him to rise to the occasion. What was perceived as “conventional logic” prior to the first bell was a totally different story once the bout was in the books!

Deontay Wilder likes his chances against Wladimir Klitschko

01/19/2015 Jeff Sorby

(Photo credit: Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions) Newly crowned WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) is only one day removed from his victory over WBC champ Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs) and already Wilder is targeting IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for a unification match that Wilder is hoping will take place later this year after Wladimir gets through with his title defense against his IBF mandatory challenger Bryant Jennings on April 25th.

Deontay, 29, points to his youth, speed, and inside fighting skills as assets that could lead him to victory over the 38-year-old 6’6” Wladimir if the fight goes down this year.

Deontay Wilder proved everyone wrong, says trainer Jay Deas

01/18/2015 Bill Phanco

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) was seen as an unproven fighter with a chin problem and with sloppy skills in the minds of many boxing fans going into his fight last Saturday night against WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs). However, Wilder proved the critics wrong by showing that he not only had the chin to take some of Stiverne’s best power shots, but he also had the skills to win a 12 round decision to capture the WBC title.

Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas notes that Wilder did a great job of proving the doubters wrong with his performance and he showed that he’s got the skills to win a heavyweight title.

Deontay Wilder Brings Heavyweight Championship Back To America!

01/18/201501/18/2015 Showtime Boxing

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) And the new WBC Heavyweight World Champion…

America finally has its heavyweight world champion as Alabama’s Deontay Wilder dethroned defending champion Bermane Stiverne via unanimous decision (118-109, 119-108, 120-107) Saturday on SHOWTIME® from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs), who had never fought past the fourth round and had knocked out all 32 of his professional opponents, boxed brilliantly behind a stellar jab to become the first U.S.-born heavyweight champion in nearly a decade. The towering 6-foot-7 Tuscaloosa native capitalized on his reach advantage, jabbing consistently to set up a powerful straight right.

Wilder decisions Stiverne; Santa Cruz defeats Ruiz

01/18/201501/17/2015 Rob Smith

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) kept his unbeaten record but he was extended for the first time in his career in having to go the distance to defeat WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in front of 8,300 boxing fans at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wilder, 6’7”, hurt Stiverne in the 2nd and 7th rounds with big right hand shots. However, he was unable to finish him off. Wilder was arguably robbed of a knockdown in the 2nd when he staggered Stiverne with a right hand, causing him to stumble and fall.

Don King wants to match Stiverne with Tyson Fury if he gets past Wilder

01/17/2015 Bill Phanco

If WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne gets past the formidable Deontay Wilder tonight in their fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Stiverne’s promoter Don King is reportedly interested in matching the 36-year-old Stiverne up with unbeaten heavyweight contender Tyson Fury in a fight that could take place in the UK if Fury accepts the fight.

There are obviously a lot of ifs involved, because it would require not only a win by Stiverne tonight, and he’s no lock to beat Deontay, but it would also require for Fury to choose not to face heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Stiverne: Wilder won’t make it past the 6th round

01/17/2015 T.Baker

(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) Tonight’s fight between WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) and his hard-hitting challenger Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) will be a short one, according to Stiverne. The 36-year-old Stiverne expects to get the inexperienced Wilder out of there by the 6th round by knocking him out in a painful fashion.

Stiverne notes that Deontay has positives in his game such as his power and height, but he feels that he’s not ready to step up so quickly at this juncture in his career.

“I think he’s [Wilder] a fraud. I don’t think he deserves to be fighting for the title and that’s why not with it,” Stiverne said via Fightnews.com. “But what is worse is that he is not even ready to fight at this level. I would be surprised if this fight goes more than 5 or 6 rounds.”

Bermane Stiverne: You will never ever hear about Deontay Wilder after this fight

01/16/2015 Jeff Sorby

(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) If everything goes right for WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) he’ll be putting an end to the Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) hype and sending him off into obscurity after giving him an embarrassing thrashing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Stiverne figures that if he knocks the 6’7” Deontay Wilder in shocking fashion, Deontay will be forgotten by boxing fans after this fight and written off as a serious heavyweight contender. As it is, Deontay has been compared frequently with 6’7” American heavyweight Michael Grant, who started off his career with a near identical record of 31-0.