Wilder Moves On From Povetkin, Plans Midsummer Ring Return

By Jake Donovan

Deontay Wilder would have much rather been in the ring tonight than watching any given boxing telecast from his living room couch. The timing of the fourth defense of his heavyweight title didn’t work out as planned, but the good news is that he won’t have to wait long to get back on course.

Talks are already underway to get the unbeaten champ from Tuscaloosa, Alabama back in the ring for a mid-summer title defense, BoxingScene.com has recently learned.

The goal is to return to the ring “within the next two months” as to not put to waste the extensive – and costly – training camp put in for his planned May 21 mandatory defense versus Alexander Povetkin in Moscow, Russia. The bout – which would have aired live on Showtime had everyone played by the rules – fell through one week ago when Povetkin produced a positive drug test for the recently banned substance Meldonium.

 It meant Wilder’s time spent moving camp from Tuscaloosa to Sheffield, England – where he’d been since April 30 – to adjust to the time and climate change was for naught. Still, it’s been business as usual for the 30-year old heavyweight, who has relaxed only to the point of not enduring rigorous training the past several days, but maintaining while awaiting his next marching orders.

Wilder’s next defense will take place in the United States. A specific date and location are still being worked out, although the safest two bets are either Barclays Center in Brooklyn - for which he's become the face of the recently developed "Brooklyn Boxing" series - and his home region in Alabama, with such an event preceding college football season in Bowl-dominant SEC (Southeastern Conference) country.

His handlers have already begun the opponent search, although there is a general idea of whom will serve as his next target as they are still required to work within the scope of the WBC Top 15-ranked heavyweights.

BoxingScene.com is making the editorial decision to not disclose those names, since a definitive choice has not yet been made, along with not wanting to contribute to said candidates suddenly appearing on the radar of a rival promoter.

Wilder (36-0, 35KOs) won the World Boxing Council (WBC) crown with a 12-round decision over Bermane Stiverne last January in Las Vegas. It was the lone time in his career in which he was forced to go to the scorecards, but still more than good enough to become the first American to win a heavyweight belt in more than seven years.

He made three successful defenses within his first full year as champion, including a rousing 9th round knockout of Artur Szpilka this past January in front of sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The win came exactly 52 weeks to the day of Wilder first claiming the title, with Povetkin and promoter Andriy Ryabinsky in attendance.

The challenger and his team immediately entered negotiations with Wilder and promoter Lou DiBella, although Team Povetkin remained stubborn enough in talks to ultimately force a purse bid hearing. The two sides were the only bidders to attend and participate in the late February auction, with Ryabinsky’s World of Boxing claiming promotional rights with a winning bid of $7.15 million, outbidding DiBella Entertainment by more than $2 million.

The WBC held 10% of the pot - $715,000 – as a win bonus, in its efforts to put the “prize” back in prizefighting. The balance was to be split 70/30 between champion and challenger, with Wilder guaranteed a career-best $4.5 million – or “5.2 million-plus” as he put it throughout training camp, his official prediction of boldly marching into Russia to win the fight and collecting the bonus.

Every aspect of the promotion proved frustrating, from the forced purse bid to the lack of communication in the early buildup to American cable giant Showtime all but pulling teeth in efforts to secure U.S. TV rights. One area that nearly became a dealbreaker was the starting point for random drug testing, with the services of Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency secured.

Testing eventually began on April 1, which was fine with Wilder’s side, although as a compromise more than a blessing. His suspicions ultimately proved accurate, although Povetkin’s team not played down such findings but insisted the show would ultimately go on in the near future or else they would file legal action against the defending champ.

It should make for a very interesting next few months – though presumably a period that will also include Wilder’s next heavyweight title defense.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2