Klitschko Says Poor Opponents Not All Wilder's Fault

By Keith Idec

Wladimir Klitschko wishes Deontay Wilder would face better opposition than Eric Molina and Johann Duhaupas.

Klitschko realizes, however, that Wilder isn’t solely responsible for the selection of these two inferior foes since he won the WBC heavyweight title from Bermane Stiverne in January. Klitschko likened Al Haymon securing opponents for Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) to when his former promoter, Germany’s Klaus-Peter Kohl, picked overmatched opponents for Ukraine’s Klitschko to fight earlier in his 18-year professional career.

Wilder will face France’s Duhaupas (32-2, 20 KOs) on Sept. 26 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, the same city where Wilder, of nearby Tuscaloosa, knocked out Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs) in the ninth round June 13.

“Of course I’m observing who is doing what, especially with Deontay Wilder,” Klitschko said on a conference call Tuesday. “He was in my training camp. We know each other well. And I just also wish that [while] he’s in [his] position, he’s going to do better [in picking opponents]. I also, on the other hand, understand it’s not his fault. Obviously, he doesn’t have influence with his management and promoter, where they make the decisions and make the calls for him, what to do in this case. So he’s not picking those guys. But, of course, he’s getting criticized certainly because he’s fighting those guys. So I think it has to do with his management. I believe he just needs to have some influence on them and they’ll probably guide his career the way he wants it as well.”

The 39-year-old Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs), who’ll encounter England’s Tyson Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) on Oct. 24 in Dusseldorf, Germany (HBO), didn’t take control of picking his opponents until he and his older brother, former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, parted ways with Kohl and launched K2 Promotions in 2004.

“I’ve been in this situation with my first and last promoter, Klaus-Peter Kohl, in my life,” Klitschko said. “I remember I was not picking my opponents out. It was somebody put in the ring with me, so I had to fight him. I didn’t have any power through the contracts to change anything much. But obviously we’re facing the same thing in this case with Wilder and his promoter and manager.

“What do I think about Wilder? I think he’s extremely talented. I think he’s an outstanding athlete and I believe that his knockout percentage speaks for itself. But of course I would love to see him [in there] with different opposition, with different opponents as well.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.