By Ryan Burton
On November 4th, former world champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) will get his wish.
The soon to be 39-year-old Stiverne has been asking for a rematch since losing his WBC heavyweight title to Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on January 17th, 2015.
He ended up in the hospital after the fight for dehydration and admits that his preparation for the fight was less than stellar.
Stiverne has been the mandatory challenger for quite some time but Wilder hasn't expressed much interest in facing Stiverne again - and there was resistance from Showtime in picking up the fight.
In fact, Wilder's handlers paid Stiverne and his promoter Don King a sizable step aside fee to face Luis Ortiz on the previously aforementioned November date.
The only reason Stiverne is getting a shot at redemption is because Ortiz failed a pre-fight VADA drug test and the Las Vegas based Haitian is determined to make the most of his second chance. Stiverne was already scheduled to fight on the undercard against Dominic Breazeale.
"It feels good man. It had to happen like that," chuckled Stiverne. "I felt it wasn't going to happen because of him because he wasn't going to make it happen so it had to happen the way it did."
One thing Stiverne isn't is a big talker but he is full of confidence despite the fact that he has only fought once in the past two years. He is so confident that he doesn't think there is anyway that he can lose the fight.
"Tune in November 4th. It is going to be a good performance by yours truly and I guarantee a victory," Stiverne told BoxingScene.com.
Wilder-Stiverne 2 takes place November 4th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and will be televised by Showtime.
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