The year 2017 has proven to be a fantastic one for fight fans. Boxing aficionados witnessed a plethora of high profiles matchups, including Keith Thurman vs Danny Garcia, Kell Brook vs Erroll Spence Jr., Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev (II), Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin and Wladimir Klitschko vs Anthony Joshua. Even the circus show between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor turned out to be an entertaining scrap.
Following the Dec. 9 matchup between tactical wizards Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux, 2017’s excellent big fight campaign will come to a close. All eyes will shift to 2018, as the boxing world ponders whether the sport can retain its impressive momentum through a calendar change.
One fighter is already working overtime to ensure that 2018 is a smashing success. On second thought, calling WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder’s recent social media outburst “overtime” may be an overstatement.
In a rematch against Bermaine Stiverne, the only man to last a full twelve rounds against him, Wilder made sure Stiverne wouldn’t last three minutes. In one wild, violent round, Wilder dropped Stiverne three times before the referee waived off the contest. The final knockdown left the overmatched Stiverne snoozing on the canvas while Wilder celebrated his 39th consecutive victory.
Immediately after the bout, Wilder (39-0-0, 38 KO) wasted no time in calling out WBA and IBF Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua (20-0-0, 20 KO).
“Joshua, come and see me baby!” Wilder teased during his post-fight interview with Jim Gray. “No more hiding. No more ducking. No more excuses. Let’s make the fight happen.”
There have been plenty of whispers around the boxing scene that the UK’s Joshua is hesitant to face his American rival. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, says an offer has been made to Wilder. Wilder’s camp claims that it wasn’t a serious offer and that Hearn is instead pushing Wilder to accept a bout versus another British fighter, Dillian Whyte.
“A king don’t chase peasants [sic],” Wilder said, in reference to Whyte, who does not hold a major title.
Instead, the charismatic Wilder’s plan seems to be to publicly call out Joshua until he accepts his challenge. Since Saturday’s victory, Wilder has done numerous interviews and made posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram calling out Joshua.
It remains to be seen whether Joshua will accept Wilder’s challenge. After dethroning Klitschko in April, in front of 90,000 fans, Joshua is clearly in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiations. However, Wilder has stated that he is willing to travel to the UK for the unification bout, ending one potential hang-up when it comes time for contract negotiations.
A bout between the two power-punching, NBA-sized heavyweights would certainly keep the wonderful momentum that boxing has built over the past 12 months.
“Don’t ya’ll want to see one champion, one face, one name?” Wilder asked the Brooklyn crowd after his latest victory.
Yes we do!
Milwaukee making moves
This season has proven to be a coming out year for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. The 6-foot-11 forward is averaging 31.9 points (leading the league), 9.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Still, the Bucks team finds its record at just 4-6. Khris Middleton is struggling to find his shot (42.4% FG and 26.9% 3PT) and Jabari Parker is not scheduled to return from injury until Feb. It’s clear that the Bucks needed some extra scoring punch if the team truly wants to become an Eastern Conference contender.
Help arrived by way of a trade with the Phoenix Suns.
The Bucks acquired guard Eric Bledsoe from the Suns in exchange for center Greg Monroe and a conditional first- and second-round pick in the 2018 draft.
Last season, Bledsoe averaged 21.1 points, 6.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds for the Suns. However, the team sat him for the final 15 games of the season as Suns executives tried to tank for a higher draft pick. The benching caused a rift between Bledsoe and the team, leading him to request a trade.
In Milwaukee, Bledsoe will give the Bucks another capable scorer and defender. The Bucks’ current guard rotation features Malcolm Brogdon, Tony Snell and Matthew Dellavedova. They are solid defenders and can knock down open shots, but none are legitimate shot creators like Antetokounmpo. Bledsoe is.
Giving up Monroe was a small price to pay for Milwaukee. Monroe is very talented on the offensive end, but he never really gelled for the Bucks and had been relegated to the second unit. The Bucks have enough bigs to make up for the loss. Since the draft picks are protected, the risk was minimal for the Bucks.
If Bledsoe’s problematic knees hold up, he should immediately help the Bucks rebound from the team’s mediocre start. The Bucks must now be considered a legitimate Eastern Conference threat.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk.
