Fresh of of his knockout victory over Gerald Washington, the WBC has already given Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KO’s) his next mandatory contender. For some reason, the WBC #1 contender for Wilder’s title is the 38 year old Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KO’s). Wilder defeated Stiverne for the WBC Heavyweight title way back on January 17th of 2015. Stiverne has only fought once since then, in November of 2015, and has not stepped foot in a ring since.
It is a bit of a head scratcher of why exactly Stiverne is the number 1 contender for Wilder’s WBC title, mainly because he has not fought anyone in nearly 2 years. Stiverne is the only fighter that Deontay has not knocked out in his 38 professional fights. Wilder did however cruise to a fairly easy 12 round unanimous decision, even though Stiverne did have a few positive moments in their fight. Stiverne’s only fight since Wilder was a 10 round decision victory over Derric Rossy. Who? Exactly! Stiverne struggled in that fight, and has been inactive ever since. Should be an easier victory for Wilder then their first meeting.
-David Jukic, INSIDE RINGSIDE
