What Will Fans Think of Wilder-Szpilka?
Wilder has finally found someone to share the ring with for his January 16 defense of the WBC Heavyweight Championship at the Barclays Center.
The towering American champion will face the WBC's No. 8 rated contender Artur Szpilka in a fight that's sure to create some angst among the fans, even though Wilder's options were largely limited by the circumstances currently surrounding the heavyweight division.
Alexander Povetkin, the mandatory No. 1 contender for the big green belt, could've had the fight, but, per Victor Salazar of Boxing Scene, wanted a tune-up bout before challenging for the title. That removed him from consideration and left a variety of so-so options.
Wilder and his team believed they were close to lining up No. 3 contender Vyacheslav Glazkov for the fight, but the Ukrainian, who is promoted by Kathy Duva and Main Events, instead elected to pursue a far easier shot at the now vacant IBF Heavyweight Championship.
Under normal circumstances, given this information, most fans would give Wilder a pass here.
Szpilka is a good fighter, undersized for this challenge, perhaps, but a solid, tough contender. He's just not the big name people have been hoping to see Wilder face.
Wilder's problem is he comes into this fight on the heels of woeful mismatches with Eric Molina and Johann Duhaupas. Those two fights were indefensible, even if this one is given the circumstances, but good luck trying to explain that to the people who buy tickets and watch on TV.