Deontay Wilder expected to fight in spring 2017

BoxingNews.com

By Eric Baldwin: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) should be fully recovered from his injured right hand and biceps and is expected to fight in the sport, according to Showtime sports vice president Stephen Espinoza. He’s hoping the 31-year-old Wilder will be able to fight several times in 2017.

One of the fights Espinoza is hoping to see the 6’7” Wilder in is a unification match against IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. We’ll have to see if Wilder and his manager Al Haymon are interested in facing the 26-year-old Joshua next year. They can’t force them o take the fight with Joshua if they don’t want the fight.

“I think he’ll be back in camp full time as of the New Year and probably in the spring we’ll see him back in the ring,” said Espinoza to RingTV.com. “We’d love to have him back on Showtime multiple times in 2017,” Espinoza said. “He’s on track to go back into full camp without any restrictions after the New Year.”

Wilder suffered his hand and biceps injuries in his fight against former two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola last July at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Wilder knocked Arreola down in the 4h round with clubbing shots to the head. It was in this round that Wilder suffered his right hand and biceps injuries.

It appeared that Wilder’s form broke down entirely with him throwing wild shots that appeared to be windmill shots. Some boxing fans felt that Wilder got a little too anxious once he got Arreola hurt, and this resulted in him getting hurt.

In recent video of Wilder working out, he was using only his left hand for throwing punches. He looked pretty good, and he appeared to be developing his jab and left hook. Neither of those punches were weapons for Wilder earlier in his career.

It would be to Wilders’ benefit if were able to develop his left hand a little more, because his game is entirely centered on his right hand. If Wilder suffers another hand injury in the future, which would seem likely, he might not win. Wilder was fortunate that he was fighting a limited heavyweight in Arreola when he suffered his right hand injury last July. If he were fighting a better heavyweight like Joshua or Luis Ortiz, he might not have finished the fight on his feet.

Wilder’s right hand injury was the second time in his pro career that he’s broken it. Wilder broke his hand in his 12 round decision win over Bermane Stiverne last year. In that fight, Wilder seemed to lose his form and start clubbing early in the fight. He hurt his hand at the time. Fortunately for Wilder, the 6’2” Stiverne didn’t have the height or the reach to get to him to take advantage of his right hand being out of commission.

Wilder is expected to fight the winner of the Alexander Povetkin vs. Stiverne fight next year. It’ll be a long overdue defense against his mandatory challenger for Wilder, who has defended his World Boxing Council title four times since winning the belt in early 2015.

It’s going to be difficult for Wilder to get past Povetkin next year if he’s the one who emerges on top in hsi fight against Stiverne. Wilder matches up well against Stiverne, but Povetkin might be a different story if he can get close enough to Wilder ot connect with his big shots. If Wilder can defeat Povetkin, then the only threat for Wilder will be the likes of Joshua, Luis Ortiz and David Haye. Wilder won’t have to fight Joshua if he doesn’t want to, but Haye could work himself into a position to become his mandatory to force the fight.