According to promoter Don King, former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21KOs) will return to the ring on January 16th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The card will be headlined by current WBC champion Deontay Wilder, who captured the title in January with a twelve round decision over Stiverne.
On Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Stiverne returned for the first time since the loss to Wilder and won a tougher than expected ten round unanimous decision over Derric Rossy (30-11, 14KOs). The scores were 95-94, 96-93, 96-93.
Stiverne had to get off the floor in the first round after suffering an unexpected knockdown.
"He caught me with that right hand, he caught me in the eye. When I got hit it closed my eye. I thought he was going to come up with the hook, so I bent down a little more and then I fell. I guess it was a knockdown, but it wasn't anything that hurt me," Stiverne explained."
"He came differently than I expected. He was being on the outside and tying me up. What can I say, he came differently."
"I think I spent a little too much time in the gym, with sparring. I felt good, not rusty. At this point we have to go back to the gym and work on stuff and not spend so much time sparring."
Stiverne was able to hurt Rossy during the ninth round with a hook to the ribs. The shot made Rossy coast for much of the remaining two rounds.
"It was right to the body. He kept on turning. If he would stay straight it would have been illegal, but he kept turning so I took advantage of that with a right hand to the body," Stiverne said.
