By Ian S Palmer
WBC Heavyweight Champion Bermane Stiverne of Haiti will attempt to defend his title against undefeated American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas this Saturday, January 17th. The 12-round bout can be seen live on the Showtime Network while British fans can catch the action on BoxNation. Canadian fans will have to do without since Super Channel has made the ridiculous and money-grabbing decision not to renew its license with Showtime. The Super Channel network continues to charge for subscriptions, but now appears to be keeping more cash for itself instead of spending it on boxing.
The 29-year-old Wilder enters the fight with a perfect record of 32-0 along with 32 Kos. It’s plain to see that this guy has been a knockout machine so far in his career and nobody has lasted four rounds with him. Of course, he’s taking a big step up in class with Stiverne, but is hoping his power will prevail. The 36-year-old Stiverne, who now fights out of Canada and the U.S., also has some power of his own and will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 24-1-1 with 21 Kos to his name. Stiverne stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with an 80-inch reach while Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is just over 6-foot-6 and has an 83-insh wingspan.
Neither boxer really has much in the way of pro boxing experience when it comes to rounds, and that’s partly due to their knockout records. Stiverne has 85 pro rounds under his belt and Wilder had just 58. Stiverne may now fight out of Vegas, but he’s the first Haitian to ever own a heavyweight title. Fans are probably hoping for a slugfest right from the opening bell and that’s a distinct possibility. The odds of this fight going the distance aren’t very good as it’s likely going to end by stoppage and there could be multiple knockdowns. The problem now is trying to determine who’s going to emerge victorious.
Wilder took home a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but he hasn’t faced any top-quality opponents as of yet. Since his chin hasn’t been tested yet it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen when Stiverne nails him on the chin. If he can take the champion’s hardest shots then he’s got a legitimate chance of taking the crown. Stiverne’s chins is pretty good and he proved that when he beat Chris Arreola by unanimous-decision back in 2013. He then stopped Arreola in the sixth round later the same year for the belt which was left vacant when Vitali Klitschko retired.
Stiverne’s body may look deceiving as he sometimes looks to be a bit out of shape. However, he’s got fast hands and good power to go along with decent boxing skills. He needs to keep his hands up and stay off the ropes or he could get caught. Wilder needs to let his hands go and make sure he also goes to the body, but he needs to be wary of Stiverne’s counterpunching skills.
Prediction
Instead of trying to analyze this fight we should just sit back and enjoy it for what it is. There’s still a chance it goes the distance if both guy’s chins hold up and then change tactics to more of a chess match. We don’t know how good Wilder is since he’s never fought a world-class opponent. This is his big chance and he should take the title by a stoppage. However, if it goes the distance Stiverne will keep the belt.
