If Anthony Joshua was focused on the task in hand last Saturday night in defeating a valiant Carlos Takam; this weekend his attention will rest on the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn. Because it is in this borough of New York that WBC World Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder will face Bermane Stiverne in a title defence.
Victory for “The Bronze Bomber” (so named because of his winning of the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) would clear the path considerably for a unification bout with Joshua. Stieverne though, is looking to win back the belt he lost in Las Vegas in January 2015.
The judges that night in the MGM Grand Garden Arena scored it 118-109, 119-108 and 120-107 in Wilder’s favour. It was the first time in 32 fights that Wilder had not secured a victory by way of a knockout. And while the Haitian-Canadian Stiverne, showed solidity and landed some tight connections, he was not in the same class as his opponent.
There were question marks over Wilder in the build-up. If he would have the stamina, the poise and the chin. The chin he had, he rode Stiverne’s best shots. If he tired late in the fight, anyone would, with a workload and an opponent like Stiverne. Most notably though, Wilder was in control. And control is something the fighter from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, expects to exert on Saturday.
It could and should have been Luis Ortiz who climbed through the ropes in New York with Wilder. However the undefeated Cuban tested positive for a banned substance following a voluntary test in September. It wasn’t the first time Ortiz had failed a drugs test, but the crux of it meant that as No 1 challenger, Stiverne was next in line.
Liking a Stiverne victory, to Donal Trump’s Presidential election, in terms of ability to surprise, Stiverne’s beguiling promoter Don King believes a head-turning result is en route. The 86-year-old said: “He {Trump}, shocked the world by becoming president, against all odds. All right? So now what we’re gonna have here is a shocking upset. It’s gonna be Bermane, when he knocks out my dear friend here, Deontay.”
If Wilder was in anyway put out by the words of the octogenarian, it certainly hasn’t shown. Discussing the long road he has travelled, he has reiterated his want to prove that he is the best, the “baddest” and that he hits the hardest. “I am the most feared. My record speaks for itself.”
Pointing out that the winner will take all in terms of opportunity, his words may show scant respect for his opponent, with talk of Ambulances and medical teams needing to be at the ready.
However stating “it will be an electrifying fight” is recognition that he knows this will be no more of a cake-walk than their first meeting, nearly three years ago.
If Wilder does manage to retain the same level of control as he did on that occasion, a points victory is not out of the equation. And with that a unification fight of profound interest across the boxing world, would be likely; most likely at that, in the summer of 2018, with Joshua.
