Ranking the Best Opponents for Deontay Wilder's Next Fight
It happens sometimes when you’re a high-profile fighter.
For the second straight outing, unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder drew an inspired effort from an unheralded underdog before an adoring home-state crowd in Birmingham, Alabama.
But most importantly, for the second straight time he also wound up a winner.
The 29-year-old title claimant improved to 35-0 as a pro and defended his share of the sport’s big-man empire with a grueling 11th-round TKO of No. 11-ranked contender Johann Duhaupas.
“I love Alabama,” a sweaty, swollen Wilder told NBC’s Kenny Rice after the fight. “I know it’s tough fighting at home because you want to please and entertain the crowd. And didn’t you all get a show tonight? Oh my God.”
Indeed, the 6’7” champion treated his 6’5” foe as a heavy bag for the majority of the fight, ultimately landing 326 punches to Duhaupas’ 98 and connecting on 56 percent of his overall shots.
Duhaupas was sporting a purple lump under his left eye and a bloody gash on the bridge of his nose when referee Jack Reiss finally halted matters 55 seconds into the 11th. Wilder, who’d only gone farther in a fight once in his career, had an ugly swelling under his left eye, too.
Bleacher Report had him up nine rounds to one—or 99-91—at the time of the stoppage.
“He did everything we expected him to do,” Wilder said of Duhaupas, who’d never fought in the United States or competed in a significant title fight. “We knew he was tough. The most scary people are the ones you don’t know. When you’re fighting for a world title it brings a different beast out of a man. He was very strong. I can see why he’d never been stopped.”
It was the seventh bout in the “Heart of Dixie” for the Tuscaloosa-born titleholder, who defeated Eric Molina in June to become the first American-born heavyweight to successfully defend a major crown since Chris Byrd retained his IBF title against DaVarryl Williamson in 2005.
The latest convincing win—not to mention The Bronze Bomber’s affinity for call-outs and other trash talk—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 his road to mainstream superstardom.
And as always, we invite you to click through and leave comments along the way.
5. Shannon Briggs
1 of 5
OK, before anyone gets too bent out of shape, take a breath.
No one is suggesting Shannon Briggs is a top-10 heavyweight.
No one is suggesting that wins over Michael Marrone, Zoltan Petranyi, Richard Carmack, Cory Phelps, Raphael Zumbano Love, Matthew Greer, Francisco Mireles and Maurenzo Smith—his quarry since a failed title try in 2010—is enough to warrant anyone another championship shot.
And no one is suggesting, even if the match with Wilder happens, that Briggs would stand any more of a chance against a young, unbeaten champion than Marrone, Petranyi, Carmack, Phelps, Love, Greer, Mireles and Smith did against a 40-something ex-champion with six losses.
But what the Brooklyn-born “Cannon” does have going for him is heat.
He shows up at press conferences. He turns up in gyms. He accosts guys in bars.
In other words, and whether deserving or not, he finds every existing opportunity to bang the drum that he’s the sort of heavyweight fighter—loud, powerful and interesting—that Americans will be drawn to as a contrast to a robotic Wladimir Klitschko and an untested Wilder.
And when your other choices are a steady stream of anonymous never-weres like Duhaupas and Molina, he might have a point.
Maybe a little middle-aged comic relief wouldn’t be so bad.
4. Antonio Tarver
2 of 5
No matter how much time passes, Antonio Tarver just won’t go away.
The former light heavyweight champion seemed a done deal after decision losses to Chad Dawson in 2008 and 2009, but he reinvented himself as a cruiserweight with an IBO title win in 2011.
A positive post-fight drug test short-circuited that reign 11 months later, but rather than going into seclusion, the 46-year-old “Magic Man” has reappeared as a credible heavyweight.
He stopped Klitschko trainer Johnathon Banks in seven rounds two weeks before Christmas and at least maintained relevance with a draw against Philadelphia-based veteran—and fellow former cruiserweight champ—Steve Cunningham on Aug. 14.
Tarver's so-so performance prompted Wilder to toss out a social media jab suggesting there'd be no way the middle-aged contender would have lasted as long with him as he did with Cunningham. Not surprisingly, the chatty Tarver returned fire, saying, "Funny thing is, I said the same thing when I saw your last fight with Eric Molina."
Both men are handled by Al Haymon, which makes a get-together more possible than some other options.
And even though he's closer to 70 than 20, Tarver couldn't be less interesting than Wilder's last two foes.
3. Alexander Povetkin
3 of 5
We last saw 35-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—which are all held by the Ukrainian.
It was a monotonous jab and clinch fest for which precisely no one has demanded an encore, but the Russian has nonetheless returned to work and scored three consecutive knockout wins to push his career record to 29-1.
The most recent of those victories—a 91-second stoppage of Mike Perez—cemented Povetkin as the WBC’s No. 1 contender. According to Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com, negotiations are expected to begin for a Wilder fight in October, and a purse bid will come in November if the sides cannot come up with an agreement.
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.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
2. Anthony Joshua
4 of 5
An immediate match between Wilder and 25-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 48 of 49 professional opponents.
But it might be better in another year or two, after each has built his respective brand.
Joshua declared himself a mainstream “it” guy with a late-May blowout of U.S. veteran Kevin Johnson, 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 one win since, a 97-second blowout of Scotland's Gary Cornish on Sept. 12.
The win boosted the 6'6" Joshua to a position as the No. 2 contender to the 6'7" Wilder’s throne, a few months after the Englishman had gotten a verbal endorsement from Wladimir Klitschko—who’s sparred with both—as the division’s next dominating force after he leaves the spotlight.
“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.”
1. Wladimir Klitschko
5 of 5
Some provide nostalgia. Some provide potential. Some provide wordplay.
But only one possible opponent—IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko—gives Wilder the chance to stake a legitimate claim on the one thing he claims to want most of all.
Heavyweight pre-eminence.
Now 39 years old and unbeaten since 2004, the mammoth Ukrainian has begun hitting numbers for consecutive title defenses previously reached only by the top names in divisional history. A late-April downing of Bryant Jennings—Klitschko’s 18th successful risk of the IBF and IBO belts—placed him within range of Hall of Famers Larry Holmes (20) and Joe Louis (25) for the longest all-time heavyweight reigns.
Wilder was in camp and sparred with Klitschko prior to Klitschko's 2012 defeat of Mariusz Wach, and he told CBSSports.com prior to June's win over Molina that the only question remaining about a unification fight is when it will finally take place.
“It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s going to happen,” he said. “All the parties come together and put the deal together we can unify these titles. He’s got more belts, but I’ve got the big belt. I’m looking forward to that fight.”
Other options exist, but nothing else comes close.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
