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Bermane Stiverne – Deontay Wilder: Breaking It Down by the Numbers

Who do you think will win between Bermane Stiverne & Deontay Wilder?

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BS DWBy Lou Eisen

On January 17, 2015, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, sharp shooting Canadian Bermane “B.Ware” Stiverne, 24-1-1, 21 KO’s will defend his WBC world heavyweight title against perennial up and coming American contender, Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder, 32-0, 32 KO’s. Stiverne is the first top fighter that Wilder will have faced in his 32-fight career. Wilder has knocked out all 32 of his previous opponents, many of whom did not belong in a boxing ring by any means. Stiverne stands 6’2” with a reach of 80 inches. Wilder is a big man in an era of big men, standing a whopping 6’7” with a wingspan of 83 inches, three inches longer than that of the champion, Stiverne.

There are many boxing insiders who are readily predicting a victory for Wilder based on his vast height advantage and his longer reach. Such insiders are forgetting one of boxing’s oldest and most accurate adages. In boxing, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but rather the size of the fight in the dog. Stiverne will enter the ring five inches shorter than Wilder. So what? Stiverne carries truly frightening knockout power in both hands, especially in his short, but numbing left hook. Just ask Chris Arreola who fought and lost to Stiverne twice in successive fights. Jesus Cuellar was five inches shorter than challenger Ruben Tamayo in their recent bout, yet had no problem dropping him twice and stopping him in five one-sided rounds while retaining his interim WBA world featherweight title.

Wilder has displayed an abundance of self- confidence going into this fight. Some might call it overconfidence but Wilder is firm in his belief that Stiverne will be an easy fight for him. Essentially, Wilder is trying to talk himself into believing he can win this fight. Yet, there is nothing in his record to suggest that he can make the next progression in his young career. Yes, Wilder has been brought along carefully, perhaps too carefully, according to some boxing pundits. The only names on his ledger that would be recognizable to the public are Malik Scott and Brit Audley Harrison, both of whom he stretched in one round. Scott was terrified and just froze and Harrison has been a relative bust as a pro boxer.

Wilder has been a pro for seven years now and has always been considered a “protected” fighter. His team has purposely kept him away from other heavyweights that could do some damage to him and his reputation. In other words, his ring record has been padded with “no-hopers”, guys that are there just to make Wilder look good but really have no boxing skills of their own. That is why Wilder has so many early knockouts on his ledger.

One more thing to seriously consider is that Wilder came to boxing relatively late, after his football career was ended by an injury. Stiverne, on the other hand, has lots of amateur experience, having been on Canada’s national team for a long time.

Wilder’s size was usually more than enough to dissuade many of his former pint-sized opponents to stand there in a frightened stupor, just waiting to be knocked out. That is not to say that Wilder is without skill. He has above average punching power and a fight-dominating jab. The question mark about Wilder has always been how will he react when he gets tagged with a major league punch for the very first time. Stiverne is smart enough to slip Wilder’s shots in order to get inside Wilder’s reach to test out his chin.

Stiverne is an excellent body puncher. As long as he focuses early on Wilder’s body, the fight should go his way in the long run. Stiverne’s body shots took away Chris Arreola’s legs and stamina. In their first match, Stiverne broke Arreola’s nose with a short, sharp, devastating left hook that deposited the American on the canvas, with blood gushing out of his nose. Arreola suffered a concussion from that shot. In their rematch, Stiverne was much more impressive and explosive, dropping Arreola twice to the mat in round six before referee Jack Reiss wisely stopped the fight. Don’t forget that winning a world title often helps fighters to improve their already impressive skills even more.

The only real tangible advantage in Wilder’s favor is his age. He is 29 whereas Stiverne is 36. Mind you, age and experience may end up being the key factors that will ultimately decide who wins this fight. Stiverne is very patient in the ring and will work Wilder’s body until the right moment to go upstairs with one of his vaunted left hooks presents itself.

Wilder, like many big men, is often off-balance while he is jabbing, and that could cost him dearly. If his right hand is not covering his chin, Stiverne will take him out early with a left hook. If everything about this fight seems a tad familiar to you, well, there is a good reason for that. We have seen this exact scenario before when Michael Grant, who also came to boxing late, challenged Lennox Lewis for the undisputed world heavyweight title. Lewis scorched him in two rounds. Look for Stiverne to do the same.

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