By Jake Donovan
From the moment all terms were finally agreed upon for his title challenge against Bermane Stiverne, unbeaten Deontay Wilder was confident that the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama would claim two championships in January.
At the time, the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team was an odds-on favorite to make it to the national championship, while Wilder is a 3-2 favorite to dethrone Stiverne when they meet on January 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tuscaloosa’s hopes of another college football crown were dashed on Thursday evening when the Ohio State Buckeyes scored a major upset this year’s Sugar Bowl, which doubled as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) semifinals. That leaves Wilder (32-0, 32KOs) as the city’s lone remaining hope on the year, since college football doesn’t start up again for another 7½ months.
The way his opponent sees it, the football-crazed town should either just stick to football or prepare for another letdown.
“I don’t know how to break it to them, but Tuscaloosa is about to go 0-2,” insists a confident Stiverne (24-1-1, 21KOs) of the outcome of his first heavyweight title defense. “I wasn’t rooting against Alabama at all (versus Ohio State). I feel sorry for what happened to Alabama’s team, and I feel sorry for Wilder come January 17.”
Stiverne won his portion of the title with a 6th round knockout of Chris Arreola in their rematch last April. The win was his second in as many fights against the heavyweight contender, having scored a landslide decision the previous April.
The pair of victories over Arreola represents the lone piece of ring action Stiverne has seen in the past two years. Promotional conflicts with Don King, and dragged out negotiations with Wilder’s handlers led to his being sidelined for the rest of 2014 following his title win.
Despite the downtime, the defending titlist has remained active year-round outside the ring. Whether it’s playing a few pick-up games of basketball, or just training in the gym in order to keep sharp, Stiverne remains physically and mentally ready for anything to potentially come his way.
“I’m not responsible for anything that will happen to him on January 17,” Stiverne promises. “That’s on his manager and promoter. I just don’t think he’s ready. In his mind he is. But I think different than him.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox