Deontay Wilder boxing news
I was off the grid at the weekend so had to catch up on all the action that I had missed on Monday, including Deontay Wilder’s hometown 1st defence of his WBC heavyweight title against Texan, Eric Molina.
And boy, words failed me as those 9 rounds unfolded. Who expected it to last that long?
The dust has settled on the fight and as far as I can see, a few things are pretty apparent. And they are sentiments shared by a majority of the boxing press.
Boxing fans are going to have to wait a little awhile before WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) defends his WBC title against his mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin. Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas says the Wilder-Povetkin fight likely won’t take place until 2016. He says it takes a lot of time to negotiate big fights against fighters like Povetkin and Tyson Fury.
In the meantime, Wilder will be looking to fight against in three months on September 26th against the likes of Tony Thompson or Chris Arreola. It’s a voluntary defense for Wilder so he’s not going to be fighting a top five contender like Anthony Joshua, Vyacheslav Glazkov or Bryant Jennings.
British heavyweight David Price (19-2, 16 KOs) may have failed in the past in a pair of losses to Tony Thompson, but he feels he’s more than good enough right now to take the strap off WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) if the two of them meet up in the near future. Price, 6’8” had the chance to see Wilder’s fight last night against Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs), and Price didn’t see too much in Wilder’s performance that impressed him.
Right now there are a lot of boxing fans and members of the media who have serious doubts about WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) being able to hold onto his WBC heavyweight title for very much longer. Wilder’s performance last night against Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs) was arguably one of the worst performances by a heavyweight world champion in many years.
In the first title fight in the state of Alabama, Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs), had to work harder than expected before dismantling Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (23-3, 17 KOs) with a ninth round knockout Saturday night in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® live on SHOWTIME.
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) looked like a novice amateur tonight in having to work harder than expected to stop a very limited Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs) in the 9th round at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Wilder took the 33-year-old Molina out with a chopping right hand to the head in the 9th.
This was one of four knockdowns that Wilder scored in the fight. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight at 1:03 of the 9th when it was clear that Molina was too hurt to get back to his feet.
Interestingly enough, the fight was actually competitive at times. Molina buzzed Wilder with a left hook to the head in the 3rd round, and he was in the position to finish Wilder off if he’d put some punches together after hurting him.
When Deontay Wilder steps through the ropes on Saturday to make the maiden defence of his WBC heavyweight title, those who follow boxing with a little bit more fervour than the man-in-the-street, will realize they are about to witness what should be nothing more than routine business for the big-punching Alabama born man.
Fighting in his home state, which will incidentally be hosting it’s first ever world title fight, “The Bronze Bomber” has promised his hometown fans that they will see a knockout performance from the man who has stopped all of his opponents – with the exception of Bermane Stiverne back in January.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (June 10, 2015) – Unbeaten Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder, heavyweight challenger Eric Molina, along with co-headliners Puerto Rican junior lightweight Jose Pedraza and Russian amateur standout Andrey Klimov, kicked off fight week working out for the press at Round 1 Gym in Birmingham, Ala. in advance of their SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® bouts this Saturday, June 13, live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
Also in attendance Wednesday were, undefeated world-ranked contenders Ivan “El Terrible” Redkach and Dejan “El Dinamita” Zlaticanin, who will square off in a 12-round eliminator earlier that night in the main event of SHOWTIME BOXING on SHO EXTREME® (7 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).
To kickoff fight week events, below are 10 fast facts you should know about Deontay Wilder (with his comments):
1. He has spent more than 1,000 hours getting tattoos covering his body, including one of the WBC heavyweight championship belt on his left thigh …
Ahead of his clash with unheralded challenger Eric Molina on Saturday, Alabama’s WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has spoken out to Sky Sports – who will be showing the fight in the UK – to promote the contest and talk about not only the future of the heavyweight division, but the future of boxing generally – something he feels he is ready to be the new star of following Floyd Mayweather’s inevitable retirement from the sport.
He said;
“Floyd Mayweather seems to be coming to the end and boxing needs an exciting new face to take over. I believe I can be that exciting new face.”