Two days after Deontay Wilder retained his title by fifth-round knockout of Gerald Washington on Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama, the WBC ordered him to next defend against former titleholder Bermane Stiverne.
Former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico looks to redeem his career as he will take on fellow countryman Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Chavez faces Canelo on Saturday May 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on HBO Pay Per View. Fightnews.com caught up with Chavez at the LA press conference as he talked about his upcoming fight with Canelo.
Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao have agreed terms on a bout, and a source in the Briton's camp told that the United Arab Emirates was the strongest contender to host the fight. The Sevens Stadium in Dubai and Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium and Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium are all under consideration.
Deontay Wilder: We knew Washington would have a lot of adrenaline, fighting for a world title the first time, and I knew he’d bring the best Gerald Washington. Everybody wants to put their name on that [WBC] belt. My hands feel wonderful, and I still have power–Alabama country power. [He didn’t hurt me] at all. It was a patient fight. We used the 3-2 [left hook, right hand], which we worked on in camp but were very specific about in the dressing room. I didn’t throw too many jabs, more as a measurement, and we knew he couldn’t move to his right. It was all timing. I knew he was wearing down. I knew it was coming. We were looking to set up the 3-2. We changed our whole game plan in the dressing room. I was just waiting on that big moment. Washington was just as tall and long as me, so if I made the wrong move, I could be the one on the ground. I didn’t want to take any big chances. I don’t care about being down on the cards, especially in the early rounds. I take my time and do what I gotta do.
Former European super middleweight champion Hadillah Mohoumadi (21-4-1, 16 KOs) and Serhiy Demchenko (17-11-1, 12 KOs) will battle for the vacant European Union (EU) title on May 6th in France as their managers reached a deal last Friday avoiding the mandatory purse bid that was expected to take place today. MK Events will promote the fight which could easily provide some fireworks as either man can punch and is not afraid to exchange with the opponent. For Demchenko this will be his first title shot at 168 lbs after he dropped from the light-heavyweights earlier this year.
Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KO) put his WBC heavyweight belt on the line against Gerald Washington (18-1-1, 12 KO) in a fight that featured few highlight reel moments—that is, until its explosive end. After a feeling-out first round, Washington landed a couple of solid rights to the body in an otherwise quiet second.
In a fight for the vacant IBF junior middleweight belt, Jarrett Hurd (20-0, 14 KO) took on Tony Harrison (24-2, 20 KO). After a tentative, feeling-out first round, Harrison was able to catch Swift coming in, while Swift followed Harrison around without cutting off the ring. Action heated up in the third when Harrison started putting his punches together, landing a few quick combos with conviction.
2012 Olympian Dominic Breazeale (18-1, 16 KO) looked to rebound after his TKO loss to Anthony Joshua last June by taking on Izuagbe Ugonoh (17-1, 14 KO) in a hard-fought heavyweight war. Ugonoh looked sharper from the outset, cracking hard power shots to the body of Breazeale, who complained of a low blow in the second round.
Heavyweight Krzysztof Zimnoch (21-1, 14 KOs) avenged his only loss with a sixth round TKO over Chicago’s Mike Mollo (21-7, 13 KOs) on Saturday night in Szczecin, Poland. In a highly anticipated rematch of their fight almost exactly a year ago, when Mollo knocked out Zimnoch in less than two minutes, this time Zimnoch dropped Mollo in round two and got the win when the bout was halted after round six.
In a clash of unbeaten super bantamweights, WBC #1 Rey Vargas (29-0, 22 KOs) scored a twelve round majority decision over WBC #2 Gavin McDonnell (16-1-2, 4 KOs) to claim the vacant WBC 122lb title on Saturday night at the Hull Ice Arena in Hull, England. It was a competitive fight and a game effort by McDonnell, but the much taller Vargas put his size to good use in pulling away to a 117-111, 116-112, 114-114 verdict. McDonnell failed to match twin brother Jamie as a world ruler. Jamie holds the WBA bantamweight crown.
