By Jake Donovan

2008 US Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder will make his pro debut on November 15 in Nashville, it was announced Thursday afternoon.

The news was delivered during a press conference at Vanderbilt University, to announce their hosting the forthcoming super middleweight elimination bout between Jermain Taylor and former Jeff Lacy, which will air live on HBO.

Wilder’s bout won’t be televised, at least not in its entirety, though clips of his pro debut are almost certain to reach the airwaves.

The news is just the latest in a series of favorable events for the lone member of the 2008 US Olympic boxing squad to medal in Beijing, China. The 6’7” heavyweight parlayed his good fortunes into a lucrative deal with Golden Boy Promotions and with legendary manager Shelly Finkel in a co-manager capacity.

At the time of his signing with Golden Boy, it was announced that he would turn pro in either November or December, with speculation that his debut would come on the Oscar de la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao event, December 6 in Las Vegas.

Turning pro in Nashville makes much more sense from a geographical standpoint, with Music City less than four hours from Wilder’s hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It also doesn’t hurt that his trainer, Ronnie Shields, will already be in town, in the corners of former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron and transplanted Tennessean heavyweight hopeful Adam Richards, both of whom appear on the card in separate bouts.

Wilder, who turns 23 later this month, was a standout in football and basketball during his years at Tuscaloosa Central High School. He turned to boxing at age 20, just three years ago, but made the most of his short time in the non-pay ranks. Among his achievements were winning the National Golden Gloves and the US Championships, both in 2007, as well as the Olympic Trials earlier this year.

The Cinderella run came to an end in the Olympic semi-finals, when Wilder dropped a 7-1 decision to eventual silver medalist Clemente Russo of Italy.

An opponent for Wilder’s pro debut has yet to be named.

Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.