By Keith Idec
Tickets prices to the November 4 boxing card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn have been adjusted to reflect the change in Deontay Wilder’s opponent.
Wilder was supposed to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Luis Ortiz in what was supposed to be the most challenging fight of the undefeated Wilder’s nine-year pro career. The WBC would not approve that fight, however, after Ortiz tested positive last month for two diuretics as part of the WBC’s “Clean Boxing Program.”
Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) was then ordered to make his mandatory title defense against Bermane Stiverne, from whom Wilder won the WBC championship by 12-round unanimous decision in January 2015 in Las Vegas. The Haitian-born, Las Vegas-based Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) is the only opponent Wilder hasn’t knocked out since the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, native turned pro.
Stiverne had accepted a six-figure sum to step aside and allow Wilder to oppose Ortiz. He was scheduled to box Dominic Breazeale (18-1, 16 KOs) on the Wilder-Ortiz undercard when he replaced Ortiz.
Wilder-Ortiz was considered a bigger fight and ticket prices reflected the magnitude of that fight. Tickets to the November 4 card now range in price from $57 to $426, including fees, and can be purchased at barclayscenter.com and ticketmaster.com.
Showtime will televise Wilder-Stiverne as the main event of a tripleheader.
The telecast also will include a 10-round welterweight bout between former IBF 147-pound champion Shawn Porter (27-2-1, 17 KOs) and Adrian Granados (18-5-2, 12 KOs). The opener of Showtime’s three-bout broadcast will feature Kazakhstan’s Sergey Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs), who’ll encounter Japan’s Akihiro Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs) in a 12-round, 140-pound fight for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.