By Daily Sports on September 23, 2017

Undefeated heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has fought only once since suffering a torn right biceps and broken right hand against Chris Arreola in July 2016.

That one fight, a TKO victory against Gerald Washington in Birmingham, Ala., last February, lasted less than five rounds.

So Wilder could have taken a warmup for his next fight on Nov. 4 due to the long period of inactivity.

Instead, he will face the most feared heavyweight this side of Anthony Joshua when he takes on undefeated Cuban southpaw slugger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz at Barclays Center in New York (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET).

It’s a classic matchup of big-punching knockout artists. Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), the WBC champ, has a 97% knockout rate, while Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs) has KO’d his foes at a 79% clip.

Wilder, who will be 32 when he steps into the ring against the 38-year-old Ortiz, is also one of the most verbally colorful fighters around. The 6-7, 228-pound fighter, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, giving him his nickname, the “Bronze Bomber,” has been criticized at times for not fighting the best in the division.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and I'm excited that the time has come to meet Luis Ortiz,'' said Wilder. "Ortiz is considered the boogeyman of the sport and I am the hardest hitter in boxing. When you put us together in a ring, you will get one of the best heavyweight fights in a long time. I will unify the division. This I promise. This is the first step towards unifying.

Any heavyweight that gets in my way is getting knocked out.

“When I knock him out, I want my due respect. I’m the only American heavyweight champion of the world and I am the man. Nobody is stronger physically, mentally and spiritually. They are all scared of me.”

•Photo shows Deontay Wilder.

Source Daily Sports

Posted September 23, 2017

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