Deontay Wilder to return in April - Opponent will be announced this Saturday

Really impressive from Wilder. He only stopped spinning from the Zhang KO on Boxing Day.

 

Stephan Shaw says no serious talks...but later says he wouldn't be surprised if it happened.

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He was practicing the spin in training too. Weird coaching

 

It's Saturday. No announcement. Maybe Dustin turned down the offer.

 

I heard mentioned maybe that guy who left the ring before the Ejagba fight-Curtis Harper.

 

Supposedly the wildfires in L.A. postponed the press conference.

 

Were it an Usyk press conference, the fires would abate themselves out of respect.

 

And he did land at least one right hand that I thought got Zhang’s attention - but of course it was not nearly enough.

Zhang, like Corrie Sanders, is an excellent power punching sniper - at least for a few rounds.

 

Deontay Wilder vs Harold Sconiers II incoming

 

Curtis Harper claiming he has signed, but it sound a bit dodgy:

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Another tomato can. I guess that's par for the course for Wilder, but it just seems like it's way too late in his career for tune-ups or rebuilds.

 

BLK Prime?
PBC is so ****ed, ain´t they?

 

Was the opponent announced yet?

 

Apparently it's going to be Curtis Harper, a journeyman with an 18-11-1 NC record. 7 of his losses were inside the distance.

This is a worse opponent than anyone Wilder's fought since 2014 at least, with the possible exception of Stiverne 2.

However, Harper is 36 to Wilder's 39 and is on a four stoppage win streak in 2024 (albeit vs cans), against Wilder's back to back losses and being winless in over 2 years.

Harper's been in with Torrez, Vianello, Jalolov, Zhang, Arreola and Washington, going the distance with Vianello and Arreola (the Ajagba fight where he quit immediately due to an alleged pay dispute seems anomalous) and taking all but Zhang past at least 3 rounds. He upset pseudo-prospects Tufte and Thun, taking their 0's.

So Harper isn't totally useless. I have a strange feeling that he may take Wilder the distance and lose on points. Scott has got Wilder boxing timidly and Wilder won't be confident coming off back to back losses. So he may well jab his way to victory. And if Wilder is so shot that he doesn't deserve the decision, there's a fair chance he'll get it anyway.

 

Deontay Wilder's last nine opponents going back to 2018 were:

* Luis Ortiz (28-0) WBC #3 contender
* Tyson Fury (27-0) WBC #2 contender
* Dominic Breazeale (20-1) WBC Mandatory Contender
* Luis Ortiz (31-1) WBC #3 contender
* Tyson Fury (29-0-1) WBC #1 contender
* Tyson Fury (30-0-1) WBC/Ring Heavyweight Champion
* Robert Helenius (31-3) WBA #2 contender
* Joseph Parker (33-3) WBO #3 contender
* Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1) WBO #3 contender

There wasn't a Jermaine Franklin (Joshua and Whyte), Ebenezer Tetteh (Whyte), Chazz Witherspoon (Usyk), Scott Alexander (Zhang), Craig Lewis (Zhang), Miguel Cubos (Hunter), Christian Garcia (Hunter), Faiga Opelu (Parker), Shawndell Winters (Parker), Carlouse Welch (Gassiev), Nuri Seferi (Gassiev), Sefer Seferi (Fury), Helaman Olguin (Wallin). Onoriode Ehwarieme (Wallin), Kash Ali (Joyce), Michael Wallish (Gassiev and Joyce), Haruna Osumanu (Bakole), Agron Smakici (Kabayel) or Pavel Sour (Kabayel) in the bunch.

Wilder is not ranked. Wilder has no belt (hasn't had one for five years). Wilder isn't blocking or preventing anyone from fighting anyone else. He's nearly 40. He's coming off major shoulder surgery.

If he wants to get in the ring and see how his shoulder feels, he can fight Curtis Harper's younger light heavyweight cousin if he wants.

Jesus Christ. How many heavyweights from 2018 to 2024 consistently fought as good or better comp in that time period? Seriously.

Jackals.