Ranking the Best Opponents for Deontay Wilder's Next Fight

He's not been the same fighter as champion that he was coming up. 

But that doesn't mean Deontay Wilder no longer possesses the single quality that can transform a garden-variety heavyweight into a certified TV attraction: paralyzing one-shot power.

He reminded everyone of that Saturday night in Brooklyn, when a single right hook transformed Artur Szpilka from a rugged, effective contender to a stretcher-borne, hospital-bound victim.

The official time was 2:24 of Round 9, and the result lifted Wilder to 36-0 with 35 knockouts in a pro career that began shortly after he became the most recent American boxing medalist in the 2008 Olympics.

He was ahead by four points on two scorecards and two on another at the time of the stoppage, though Bleacher Report had Szpilka up, 77-75, when the lights went out.

"We risk our lives in here each and every time," Wilder told Showtime's Jim Gray. "He's definitely in my prayers and I hope he's doing well."

The latest convincing win—not to mention the in-ring verbal melee that followed—will surely ramp up the chatter surrounding his next fight, and we surveyed the landscape for the best prospective opponents before winnowing it down to a list of five.

They’re not all mandatory challengers or fellow champions, but they’d all provide compelling hurdles on Wilder's road to mainstream superstardom.

And as always, we invite you to click through and leave comments along the way.

5. Charles Martin

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Gee thanks, Tyson Fury.

Though each of the sanctioning bodies outside of the WBC had played nice during the prolonged belt-collecting reign of Wladimir Klitschko, it was only a matter of time once the 39-year-old Ukrainian was toppled that greed would override the uneasy alphabet detente.

The IBF became the first domino to fall shortly after Fury outpointed Klitschko in late November, self-servingly declaring its title vacant when the new champion had the audacity to decide a rematch was his most lucrative option.

That left No. 1 contender Vyacheslav Glazkov and No. 3 contender Charles Martin to step into the New Jersey-based organization's jewelry vacuum, and now that the younger American—he's 29—has a shiny new trinket over his shoulder, he becomes a live blip on Wilder's "I want to be unified champion" radar.

The dubious nature of Martin's ascension—he won when Glazkov was unable to continue with what a ringside physician diagnosed as a torn right ACL—would leave many to consider him little more than a speed bump for Wilder if the fellow member of the Al Haymon stable dials him up. 

4. Alexander Povetkin

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We last saw 36-year-old Alexander Povetkin on a meaningful stage being bounced off a Moscow canvas four times by Wladimir Klitschko on the way to a losing challenge for the heavyweight division’s other four belts—IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO—all held at the time by the Ukrainian.

It was a monotonous jab-and-clinch fest for which precisely no one demanded an encore, but the Russian has returned to work and scored four consecutive knockout wins to push his career record to 30-1.

The most recent of those victories—a 12th-round stoppage of Mariusz Wach—cemented Povetkin as the WBC’s No. 1 contender. Povetkin was in the building Saturday night to watch Wilder, and BoxingScene.com reported in November that the respective teams were ironing out location details.

"If we reach an agreement we can hold the fight in America, but I have only one condition," Povetkin's promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky, said. "This battle should be a very well-promoted event that will be viewed by the whole world."

If you’re a fan of sanctioning body mandatories—and who isn’t?—then this is the fight for you.

OK, maybe it’s got a little bit more going for it than that.

But probably not much.

3. Anthony Joshua

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An immediate match between Wilder and 26-year-old Anthony Joshua would not only join a pair of recent Olympic medalists—the former won super heavyweight bronze in 2008, and the latter copped gold in 2012—but also two long, lanky KO artists who’ve combined to stop 49 of 50 professional opponents.

Joshua declared himself a mainstream “it” guy with a blowout of U.S. veteran Kevin Johnson last May, stopping the New Jersey native in two rounds after each of his six previous losses had come by decision, including a 12-rounder against then-WBC champ Vitali Klitschko in 2009.

The Brit has added two wins since, spending all of eight combined rounds while racking up TKOs of opponents with a combined record of 37-0.

The wins boosted the 6'6" Joshua to a position as the No. 2 contender to the 6'7" Wilder’s throne, not long after the Englishman had gotten a verbal endorsement from Wladimir Klitschko—who’s sparred with both—as the division’s next truly dominant force.

“I haven’t seen an athlete as athletic, as big, as fast, as talented as Anthony,” Klitschko told the Telegraph, “and if he’s going to continue the way he is, developing himself, the future belongs to him.”

2. Luis Ortiz

Rich Schultz/Associated Press

His suspect "interim" belt is only third in the WBA's pecking order behind "unified" champion Tyson Fury and "world" champion Ruslan Chagaev, but there may not be a heavyweight in the world these days with more momentum than Cuban-born southpaw Luis Ortiz.

The 36-year-old stumbled at the end of 2014 with a failed drug test that followed a one-round erasure of Lateef Kayode, but he rebounded last year with three KOs in three fights over 11 total rounds.

The most recent of those wins came in seven rounds against former Wladimir Klitschko challenger Bryant Jennings, a triumph that maintained Ortiz's hold on the aforementioned trinket and prompted post-fight discussion that included his name alongside foes like Wilder, Tyson Fury or Klitschko.

“I will fight whoever next, whoever Golden Boy Promotions gives me I will take," Ortiz said. "Wilder, Fury, Klitschko anyone of them, I am ready to prove that I am the heavyweight world champion. A lot of people say a lot of things about me, but the testing showed that I am a clean fighter."

He was referred to a day later as "The heavyweight division’s new danger man" by BoxingNews24.com.

"Ortiz wears the serene mask of a cool assassin, almost like a giant version of Gennady Golovkin plying his trade," Paul Lam wrote. "This is a calculating and intelligent fighter at work, not some crude, uncoordinated slugger. Perhaps most importantly, Ortiz has the motivation required to reach the stratosphere of the sport."

1. Tyson Fury

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Gentlemen, start your microphones.

Some may argue Tyson Fury isn’t the most accomplished or most deserving heavyweight champion ever, but few would debate that a match between he and the WBC champ would be a sound-bite Valhalla.

The 27-year-old Englishman stands two inches taller than Wilder at 6'9", has stopped 18 of 25 opponents in a pro career that began seven years ago and can match the American word for word when it comes to pre-fight bulletin board material or post-fight bravado.

The two champions went nose to nose in the ring after Wilder's win Saturday. But the vitriol goes back to last February, when, after Wilder dethroned Bermane Stiverne, Fury went brash with the Mail Online:

"Back in the Ali days, there was only one man doing the talking. The others wouldn't talk," he said. "This is different, though. We can both talk, we both play the press and we are both natural born entertainers. That's why it's the biggest fight out there as far as I'm concerned."

Wilder stoked the chatty fire a month later, enticing Fury to challenge him before he went on to a successful match with four-belt champion Wladimir Klitschko.

“I want him really bad. I’m tired of all the talking," Wilder told ESNews (h/t Scott Gilfoid of Boxing News 24). "It’s been three years since we’ve been doing this. I’m at the point where I’m in a no talk zone. I got what you want, so you know where to find me. So let’s make it happen."

It's not Ali-Frazier or Lewis-Holyfield just yet, but it's the best we have these days.