One of the problems a monstrous puncher can face is hand injury. WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder was in great pain both during and after his dominant win over a tough and game Chris Arreola, due to breaking his right hand on the Mexican/American’s rock of a head, and because of the tear to his biceps he also suffered during the 8th-round corner retirement win.
Wilder will now have to undergo two operations, one to repair his right hand, one to repair the muscle tear of the same arm. His promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com how the 37-0(36) star will be out of action until some time in 2017. This is unfortunate and, along with the postponed big fight Wilder was to have had in Russia against Alexander Povetkin (for a considerable pay day), more frustration for the man who claims to be the hardest hitter in the heavyweight division today.
“Deontay is definitely out for the remainder of the year, but we will know more in the next few days,” DiBella said. “There’s no reason to think he won’t be back and be fine in 2017.”
Let’s hope the two surgeries go well and Wilder – an exciting fighter who is on the verge of some massive unification fights with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua – does not suffer any long-term effects from either injury. Wilder’s key weapons are his superb left jab and his venomous right hand. Wilder has broken his right hand before, a couple of times, but Saturday’s break is the most serious of his career.
Wilder is rightly receiving plenty of praise for the way he fought on through the pain against Arreola, basically gutting it out as a one-armed fighter from the 5th-round until the bout’s end. A lesser fighter might have called it a day and we would now be referring to Arreola’s win as one of the biggest upsets in recent heavyweight history. As it turned out, though he scored a largely one-sided win, Wilder showed heart and raw courage in Saturday’s fight. Actually, both fighters did.