by Radio Rahim
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34KOs) is less than two weeks away from his first defense of 2016, when he faces top contender Artur Szpilka at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder captured his world title a little less than a year ago, with a twelve round unanimous decision over Bermane Stiverne. He then came back in June for his first defense of the belt and stopped Erick Molina in nine rounds. The year was completed with an eleventh round TKO of Johann Duhaupas in September.
Should Wilder come out on top next Saturday night, he would like to face the winner of the upcoming rematch between IBO/WBO/WBA heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former beltholder Wladimir Klitschko.
Last November, Fury shocked the world by handing Klitschko his first defeat in over a decade. Following the points loss, Klitschko exercised a rematch clause. The exact date and venue has yet to be scheduled.
"Whoever wins the rematch, I want the winner. Because I want all the belts. I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world," Wilder told BoxingScene.com.
Klitschko, who is tall at 6'6, was affected by the length and height of Fury (25-0, 18KOs), who stands at 6'9.
Wilder, who is also tall (6'7) and very long, says the height of either guy will not bother him. He feels Klitschko got accustomed to facing much smaller fighters and then failed to adjust once he started having issues with Fury's physicality.
"Throughout my career, I've fought tall and small. I mixed my opponents up because I didn't want to fall into that trap-fest of getting used to smaller guys, because you can get used to the opponent that you fight. The smaller guys, you can get used to that, because you already know what you're going to do if you want to bail out - clinch on him, put your body weight on him to get him tired. When you fight bigger guys - it's different. I've been up and down with both, so I'm comfortable with big guys and smaller guys," Wilder explained.
