On Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, Deontay Wilder fought Dominic Breazeale for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. The bout lasted two minutes and 17 seconds as Wilder knocked out Breazeale and it was determined by the referee Harvey Dock that Breazeale could not continue. In the process, Wilder maintained the title he has owned since winning the WBC Heavyweight Championship over Bermane Stiverne of Canada on Jan. 17, 2015.
There is no doubt that Wilder, also known as the Bronze Bomber after winning the Olympic bronze medal for the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, is the best American boxer at the moment. His terrific professional record of 41 wins (40 wins by knockout) and one decision speaks for itself. He has powerful hook that can overwhelm his opponent. Wilder did just that with his right hand on Saturday night.
Now boxing fans deserve an opportunity to see Wilder face the best boxer from Europe at the moment. That is clearly Anthony Joshua of Great Britain, the Olympic gold medalist in the super heavyweight division from the 2010 Olympic Games in London. Wilder’s professional record at the moment is 21 wins and one decision. On June 1, Joshua will be making his fighting debut in the United States when he faces Andy Ruiz of Imperial Valley, CA (32-1) for the four titles Joshua owns at the moment–the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO championships. Like the Wilder-Breazeale fight, the Joshua-Ruiz fight will take place in New York state with the historic boxing venue of Madison Square Garden the location. In his career, Joshua has a record of 22 wins and zero losses, with 21 wins coming by knockout, and one by decision.
The only time Joshua has had to go to the full 12 rounds and win by decision was when he beat Joseph Parker of New Zealand on March 31, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. Wilder meanwhile had to go the full 12 rounds before beating Stiverne by decision four years ago. The rest of his 40 wins came by knockout.
Wilder meanwhile has a one match winning streak after getting a draw against Tyson Fury of Great Britain at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 1, 2018. It would not take long at all Saturday for the Bronze Bomber to be back in the winner’s circle.
Whether or not Joshua beats Ruiz in two weeks, boxing fans worldwide deserve to see Joshua fight Wilder. They are clearly the two best heavyweight boxers on the planet, and as long as they are not in the ring together at the same time, boxing fans and critics deserve to make comparisons to the controversial standoff between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao that dominated boxing headlines a few years ago.
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