By Keith Idec
Deontay Wilder didn’t take any offense to Artur Szpilka’s promise to “kick his ass” on a conference call Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7 Wilder just hopes Szpilka attempts to back up his tough talk when they meet Jan. 16 in a scheduled 12-round fight for Wilder’s WBC heavyweight championship at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (Showtime). Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is a 16-1 favorite over Poland’s Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs), a southpaw who has lost only to Bryant Jennings.
“I’m really looking forward to the fight and I hope Szpilka live up to what he say,” Wilder said. “You know, a lot of guys, they just talk the talk. But when it’s time, they don’t deliver what they say they would. But I hope he live up to what he say.
“I want an exciting fight. At the end of the day, I want a fight that people say that was one of the best fights of the year. No matter how many fights they been to, I want people to say, ‘I wanna see those guys fight again.’ That’s the kind of show I’m looking for. I’m looking for a grand show. I’m looking for a great performance on my behalf. 2016 is a new year for me. I’m setting the tone, I’m setting the pace with this fight. I’m setting the pace with it. I’m gonna show an example [with] Szpilka, to all the rest of them that get in my way, that Deontay Wilder’s not playing, that he’s on a mission and anybody that step in my way, they will, I’m gonna let you fill in the blank.”
The flamboyant Wilder is a notorious trash-talker, but believes what sets him apart from most boxers is that he always delivers once he sets foot in the ring.
“A lot of guys can talk the talk,” Wilder said. “The best thing that Mike Tyson could’ve ever said, that ever came out of his mouth, is, ‘Every fighter’s got a game plan until they get hit.’ And that’s what we’re all about. They can say how tough they is, they can say how rugged they are, they can say who I done fought, they can feel like they got a game plan. Until it’s time for that fight on that night – it ain’t no substitutions, it ain’t no Plan B. It’s just me and you.
“I love a fighter that’s not scared. That’s even more [motivation] for me to knock they motherf*cking head off. Because I don’t play around. I don’t play boxing. You can’t. I’m in love with this sport. If you push a rabbit in a corner enough, he’ll get scared and he will whoop that ass. That’s good he’s not scared. I’m glad. That’s [good] for me. So I don’t wanna hear no excuses after this fight. I don’t play around with this. I’m coming in, I mean business and I come with bad intentions, to really hurt my opponent. This is the game that we in. Unfortunately, it’s a winner and a loser. And I don’t know nothing about losing.”
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.
