by Cliff Rold

When two guys can clearly punch, and so little else is really known about them, there is an element of danger to a fight. 

Bermane Stiverne has the loose belt in the division World Champion Wladimir Klitschko does not.  There isn’t much else to go by.  Two wins over fringe contender Chris Arreola only tell us so much.  There isn’t much else to go by. 

He still has plenty to prove.

Deontay Wilder has risen through the ratings of the WBC by sheer numbers.  A check of the most current WBC ratings at Heavyweight show that Wilder is undefeated against their top forty Heavyweights. 

That’s not a big deal.

It’s easy to be undefeated against the top forty guys in the WBC ratings when you haven’t fought any of them.  That’s not a misprint.  Wilder is rated number one by the WBC and hasn’t faced one guy rated in the 39 slots below him.

Then again, Stiverne has only faced one current WBC top 40 himself (Arreola is currently their 13th rated Heavyweight and was higher when he fought Stiverne for the vacant belt last year).  

Let’s not bang on the WBC too hard.  Most of the press ratings, as seen below, have Wilder in the top ten for the same credentials.  When a division lacks depth, a string of bodies goes a long way.  Wilder has gone 32 fights without even getting past the fourth round.

Wilder still has everything to prove.

Saturday night at the MGM Grand, these two Heavyweights will look for concussive proof against each other.  This just looks like fun.   

Let’s go to the report cards.

The Ledgers

Bermane Stiverne
Age: 36
Title: WBC Heavyweight (2014-Present, 1st Attempted Defense)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 6’2
Weight: 239 lbs.
Hails from: Las Vegas, Nevada (Born in Haiti)
Record: 24-1-1, 21 KO, 1 KOBY
Rankings: #2 (ESPN, Ring), #3 (BoxingScene, TBRB), #4 (BoxRec)
Record in Major Title Fights: 1-0, 1 KO
Current/Former World Champions Faced: 0

Vs.

Deontay Wilder

 Age: 29
Title/Previous Titles: None
Height: 6’6 ½
Weight: 219 lbs.

 Hails from: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Record: 32-0, 32 KO
Rankings: #6 (TBRB, Ring), #7 (BoxingScene), #8 (ESPN), #10 (BoxRec)
Record in Major Title Fights: 0-1, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Siarhei Lyakhovich KO1)

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Stiverne B+; Wilder A- 

Pre-Fight: Power – Stiverne A-; Wilder A-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Stiverne B; Wilder B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Stiverne B; Wilder B

In a puncher’s duel, the biggest question can often be the chins.  Both men have spots on their record indicating that could be an issue.  In the case of Stiverne, reading his record isn’t enough. 

Stiverne’s lone loss came via stoppage in 2007 in his thirteenth fight.  It was a questionable stoppage.  There was no ten count; no trip to the floor.  Stiverne was rocked by Demetrice King and in some trouble.  King teed off while Stiverne covered up but Stiverne never seemed to lose his senses.  He was still looking to fire back.  As the referee called the fight, he WAS firing back.

Could he have collected himself and gotten back into the scrap?  It looked like the referee should have at least found out.  It was the sort of finish that would send Teddy Atlas into hysterics.

Wilder got the chance to work through it in his fateful thirteenth fight.  Harold Sconiers had him down and, reportedly, badly hurt before Wilder came back to win with a stoppage.  Wilder was stopped early in a truncated amateur career of just a couple years.  He developed his game enough for a Bronze Medal at the 2008 Olympics.

When he turned pro, Wilder was often referred to as a ‘project Heavyweight,’ one who would be carefully developed over a period of time.  For some, especially after the Sconiers fights, ‘project Heavyweight’ became interchangeable with ‘protected Heavyweight.’  It’s only partially true. 

While not fighting world-beaters, Wilder has made gradual moves up in competition against faded veterans like Audley Harrison and Sergei Lyakhovich.  Some might say Lyakhovich is a spent force.  They’d be right.

That spent force just gave another highly touted American, Andy Ruiz, all he could handle.  Wilder did him in less than two minutes.  Maybe there is more style than substance to Wilder so far but his learning curve hasn’t been all that atypical. 

By no means is this a direct comparison or prediction of greatness but Wilder’s career so far mildly resembles another huge puncher who needed some refinement even after winning an Olympic Gold Medal:

George Foreman.

Go look at where Foreman was at 32-0.  His 33rd foe had a losing record.  In fact, three of his five opponents before knocking out Joe Frazier, at 37-0, had losing records.  Now, Foreman was matched at a quicker pace and tougher (in a tougher era) along the way.  There weren’t a ton of tough tests.  An aged George Chuvalo, a tricky Gregorio Peralta a couple times, Boone Kirkman, Non from Krypton, and lots of ‘timber.’

He built up a body count, just like Wilder.  It’s often part of the psychology of building a knockout artist.  Sometimes it works.

Sometimes the burgeoning artist takes a nap when their canvas paints back.
 
Take away Stiverne’s paper title, and no offense but any title not worn by Klitschko right now is paper, and what is he really?  Stiverne is Wilder’s first serious test against a top ten contender.        

Maybe Wilder’s chin is an issue.

Maybe he got caught once while he was learning and there has been a bigger picture. 

It happens.  Wladimir Klitschko was on the floor against Steve Pannell, and stopped by Ross Purrity, on the way up.  Adversity happens.  Stiverne can make some happen this weekend.

The shorter, more stout man has deceptively quick hands and proven power.  He knocked Arreola silly in their rematch.  In an otherwise mediocre performance against veteran Ray Austin, Stiverne exploded to put a close fight to rest in the tenth.  He’s been through more competitive fights so far and we know at least a lot more about his stamina.  He hasn’t been in many long fights but he has been through a full twelve in the first fight with Arreola and won a lopsided decision.

Where Stiverne could be vulnerable to Wilder is in the pace.  Stiverne sometimes fights methodically, not moving his hands much.  Wilder could win rounds with activity and range off his long jab.  If Stiverne sits on the outside and looks for counters, he might not find them.  If he holds his left too low, often the case, he’s open for a right hand. Wilder’s gets to target fast and with explosion.  Both men have fast hands.  Wilder’s are faster.

That doesn’t mean Wilder can attack with impunity.  Wilder can’t get sloppy and just fall into shots.  The taller man sometimes squares up on the attack and that’s just what a guy who often fights off the ropes will hope for.  If Wilder gets off balance, or too aggressive, he may be listening to the ref before he knew what hit him.     

The Picks

Many picking Stiverne point to him having faced stiffer tests so far.  It’s true but overstated.  When the margin of difference in quality foes is Chris Arreola, a tough guy but not one who ever won above a journeyman level of foe, there isn’t that much difference.

There is a difference in natural talent.

Wilder has the tools; does he have the chops? Wilder has come a long way from non-boxer to potential titlist in less than ten years.  He’s got speed and power that come natural.  His technique is improved from where he was at the Games, to pro debut, to now.  The project is over.  This should be his coming out party.

Stiverne is a too inactive, shorter man who will get caught first. It's going to be exciting while it lasts but the winner will be Wilder within five rounds.

Report Card Picks 2015: 0-0

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com