By Jake Donovan
As BoxingScene.com previously reported, heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33KOs) is going to stay very active and wants to fight at least four times this year, with September 26th targeted as his next fight date.
The unbeaten knockout artist is fresh off of a 9th round knockout of Eric Molina, overcoming a rocky third round to score four knockdowns en route to the first defense of the title he claimed in a 12-round win over Bermane Stiverne earlier this year. The win came in front of a raucous sold-out crowd of 9,347 at Bartow Arena on University of Alabama Birmingham campus, less than an hour from his hometown of Tuscaloosa, the first ever heavyweight title fight to take place in Alabama.
Outside venues are being sought for his next ring appearance, since fighting at home in September is highly unlikely in the region, where college football is a way of life. The Alabama Crimson Tide college football dynasty—also in Tuscaloosa—has home games scheduled every weekend in September, prompting Wilder's team to hit the road.
His handlers have a general idea of where the fight will take place, but not quite as sure as to whom will man the opposite corner.
In an ideal world, it would be Alexander Povetkin, Wilder's mandatory challenger. The once-beaten Russian rebounded from a points loss to World heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko with knockout wins over Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam and most recently destroying Mike Perez in 91 seconds last month, with all three wins—as well as his loss to Klitschko—taking place in Moscow.
The challenge in staging the fight could be determining where it takes place, as both fighters benefit from being backed by teams with deep pockets. Povetkin fights under the World of Boxing promotional banner, while Wilder's team includes powerful adviser Al Haymon.
Both sides have the financial resources to make a forthcoming purse bid very interesting, in the event they are not able to come to terms.
For now, it's not necessarily Wilder's problem. The World Boxing Council (WBC) announced that negotiations are not due to begin until October, with the mandatory defense due by January. With that in mind, the priority is remaining active. If Povetkin is willing to return to the ring just as quickly, he could very well be next in line.
However, Wilder's team has yet to get that indication from the other side.
"So far, we really haven't heard from his team, to be honest," Jay Deas, Wilder's longtime manager and trainer told BoxingScene.com following his win over Molina. "We'd love to get that mandatory title defense out of the way and move on to even bigger fights.
"At the same time, we can't keep Deontay waiting. We want to bring boxing back to where fighters are in the ring often and on TV, building up an audience. We can't do that with "D" if he's sitting around waiting for a single fight to materialize."
For now, the focus is finding the right opponent and location for a September date. Povetkin remains in the mix, but the likelihood is that it happens eventually rather than next.
"We know his team will want to bring the fight to Russia, and of course we'd love for Deontay to remain showcased in the United States," notes Deas. "He's on our radar, it's a fight we want, along with any other win that would bring D's career to an even higher level.
"But given the process involved in making a mandatory fight happen, we're not going to sit around for months and not fight. That doesn't do any good for Deontay, who wants to fight as often as possible."
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox