In the heavyweight division, it looks very likely that Deontay Wilder will be making the trip to Russia to make the mandatory defence of his WBC heavyweight title.
With the bidding to stage the fight over, the Russian promoter Andrey Ryabinsky submitted the highest bid to stage the contest, putting a purse up of $7.15 million which beat the bid from Wilder?s promoter Lou Dibella of $5,101.000
The mandatory defence, against Alexander Povetkin, will take the champion out of his US comfort zone and it will be interesting to see how Wilder copes. Dibella has already categorically stated that Wilder has no intention of relinquishing his WBC crown and will fight Povetkin anywhere, whether that be in the US or Russia.
Wilder enters the contest with a record that reads 36-0 with 35 of those wins coming by knockout, whilst the mandatory challenger, Povetkin, will make his way to the with a record that reads 30-1 with 22 wins coming by knockout.
Talking about the bout Povetkin had this to say,
?I look very positively on this
?It?s interesting. Secondly, Wilder is a world champion. Thirdly, the United States of America is the centre of global boxing. I always want to box the best, and it doesn?t matter which country, Russia or USA. It doesn?t matter to me.?
Now that the purse-bid winner has been announced, the Russian promoter Andrey Ryabinsky has exactly 90 days to stage the fight.
It promises to be an interesting one but my money is still on the big-punching Wilder to win inside the distance and keep his strap.
Wilder to Defend His Title in Russia
