Wilder on Povetkin: I Won't Sit Around, I'm The Champ!

By Edward Chaykovsky

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34KOs) says there is no way that he plans to sit on the bench, while waiting around for mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21KOs) to be ready and available to face him.

Povetkin is back on November 4th when he fights Mariusz Wach in Kazan. Wilder wants to fight in December or January, which may create a scheduling issue for Povetkin with such as short time span. 

Wilder captured the title in January when he decisioned Bermane Stiverne. He then knocked out Eric Molina in June and came back in September to batter Johann Duhaupas for another knockout win.

"They can't hold me down from fighting," Wilder said to Alabama.com. "I'm not going to sit around. I'm the champ. When you're the champ, you decide when and where you're going to fight.

"He's got a fight in November, so he won't be ready, but I'm going to keep fighting. Hopefully he wins his next fight and we can get it on the next one. I can't wait for all of them."

Wilder wants to break out in new markets and likes the sound of fighting at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. His management is receiving a lot of requests from venues across the United States to host a heavyweight world title fight.

"I've been wanting to break in the Barclay's Center, so we'll see what happens," Wilder said. "There's a lot of locations that's demanding me to come there. I'm looking forward to getting to the different locations and different networks, so I'm just telling people to stay tuned."