For most fight fans, 2014 was a bad year with many televised mismatches on major networks along with many marquee fighters not having any enticing fights. However, 2015 looks to be getting off to a good start with a great heavyweight title fight taking place on January 17th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada. The fight will be between reigning champion Bermaine Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) and Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) for the WBC heavyweight title and will be televised live on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Deontay Wilder is a bronze medalist from the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Wilder is 6 foot 6 ½ inches in height and possesses an 83 inch reach with knock power in both hands and an athletic body type to go along with that. Wilder seems to be the perfect physical specimen for a heavyweight boxer. However, there are still many questions to be answered about Wilder despite his 100% KO ratio. Even though he won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic games, he has had a short amateur career. Despite having 32 professional fights under his belt he lacks credible opposition on his resume. Deontay Wilder’s best win would probably be a first round knockout win against former WBO heavyweight world champion Sergei Liakhovich who was 25-5 at the time coming off of two straight losses. Wilder seems to have some athletic ability to go along with his undeniable punching power but he still has a lack of coordination at times and can get wild with his punches. Wilder has many good attributes but he is far from a finished product and needs some polishing. Many fans question his chin as well because Wilder has been stopped in the amateurs.
On the other hand, Bermane Stiverne is the reigning WBC heavyweight world champion but aside from defeating Chris Arreolla and Ray Austin, he hasn’t faced any credible opposition either. Stiverne stands at 6 feet 2 inches in height with an 80 inch reach. He is physically very strong and has good punching power. He also possesses decent hand speed along with some boxing skills. He likes to box and is a good counter puncher. Stiverne will most likely look to take advantage of Wilder’s aggression by luring him in and catching him with counter power shots. Wilder on the other hand has to try to make use of his reach advantage and keep the fight at a distance by using a strong jab. After he establishes his jab and gets the distance down, he should start dropping his right hands. However, he has to be careful to not be overly aggressive and take his time. I personally am excited about this match up and it’s a great way to start off the New Year!
